Tag: Drama

MOTHER MARY – Review

– By Cate Marquis –

Anne Hathaway plays a Madonna-like mega-pop star called Mother Mary, who is at a turning point with her career, and turns to her long-estranged friend, Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel), the costume designer who gave the star the signature look that helped launch her career. Sam, now a top fashion designer, has not heard from Mother Mary for ten years, not since the star ended their professsional and personal partnership during Mother Mary’s rise to the top. Now Mother Mary is seeking a comeback, after a disastrous accident, and she returns to Sam, begging her to design a new dress for her. On the surface, at least, that is what is going on in writer/director David Lowery’s visually lush but mysterious drama.

Writer/director David Lowery, whose previous films include the mysterious GREEN KNIGHT, weaves similar dreamlike material here for MOTHER MARY. Beneath the surface of two people, who started their careers together but parted on bad terms, are many questions – about their personal relationship, forgiveness and betrayal, limits of friendship, maybe even about life and death. And, perhaps, about whether what we are seeing is real or imagined.

MOTHER MARY is filled with gorgeous imagery, a joy to look at and a dream-like drama, but it is also a film that asks a lot of its audience, while tantalizing rewards for those who stick with it. What it does deliver upfront are spectacular acting performances, from Anne Hathaway certainly but particularly from Michaela Coel, who is a complete “wow” and a revelation as Sam Anselm.

It actually helps to know that MOTHER MARY is based on a stage play, because it makes it a bit easier to find a way into its mysterious, talkative film. It is pretty safe to assume that the play likely begins with a scene grounded in the real, with the pop star walking into the fashion designer’s office, a start that gives the story concrete foundation before it veers off into its more surreal territory.

However, the movie starts not with that but with scenes of Anne Hathaway’s Mother Mary (she is always called by both names in the film), as the pop star endures fittings for costumes that are lavish but unwieldy and different but somehow all the same, plus the grind of touring with elaborately staged performances that also are somehow all the samen. Some event is hinted at, with vague images, something on stage that went very wrong, which sends Mother Mary running back to her friend Sam Anselm.

Well, “former friend” would be more apt. Sam Anselm, now a very successful as a fashion designer and head of a design empire of her own, greets Mother Mary politely, but the currents of coldness and irony underneath are palpable. Sam has not heard from the singer in ten years, yet here she is, unannounced, with no prior appointment, something Mother Mary did deliberately so Sam couldn’t dodge seeing her. Unexpectedly, after a tense few moments, Sam suddenly agrees to design a dress for Mother Mary, a decision delivered in a matter-of-fact tone, but we have the sense that there will be a price to pay, and that an apology will be the bare minimum.

Sam whisks the star off to a large, old barn-like structure, where they can work alone, away from the bustle of her busy fashion studio, which is preparing for a big show. In the half-lit old barn, Sam is business-like, and while her assistant Hilda (Hunter Schafer) takes measurements, Sam asks the pop star questions about the dress: Do you need to move in it? What color do you want? Mother Mary replies: anything but red.

The answer is significant, as we eventually learn. After Sam sends away her assistant Hilda, the two really get down to work, professional and personal. Of course, old feelings come out, but strange things happen too.

As good as Anne Hathaway is, and she is very good in this, it is Michaela Coel who it the bolt of lightning in this film. Michaela Coel has a striking, expressive face and makes full use of it, along with her voice, bringing acres of nuance and subtext to every line, often dripping in sarcasm or resentment, as she wrings out every ounce of meaning in the well-written lines. Coel’s face transforms minute by minute, her eyes piercing, as she delivers her lines with surgical precision, while she radiates a powerful presence and palpable charisma from the screen. She is simply hypnotic to watch.

The art direction is lush and expansive, and the film is packed with symbolic scenes, which are lovely, sometimes with dresses or fabric floating through the air, and sometimes with flashbacks exploring the singer’s grueling life on tour, as the pop star wears down from constant work and repetition. The performances are extravaganzas and the costumes are too, but there is a repetition that we see is grinding her down. The film itself is loosely-structured, mysteriously vague, and even nearly amorphous, making it hard to get a handle on, as theses two talk and only drop hints for us about what is really going on, in what was clearly both a professional and personal relationship, although details are elusive.

Clearly, both Mother Mary and Sam know Sam is owed an apology, although that may not be enough. Even though Sam was Mother Mary’s friend and professional partner, she replaced her without notice or seeming feeling. Sam not only survived but the abrupt break allowed her to launch her own very successful fashion design career, perhaps even eclipsing her pop-star former friend at this point. Still, the pain remains.

Sam agrees to design the dress but repairing the relationship is another matter. As she and Mother Mary set about that work, Hathaway’s character clearly longs to re-establish their long-severed connection, even seeming to want to pretend there was no break.

The dialog is sparkling, and the air crackles with anger and other long-buried emotion. As they talk, we get glimpses of Mother Mary’s world of relentless tours and physical stress, all presented in beautifully symbolic images. As the film progresses, we learn more about their shared past but little is clear about what is really going on in the present.

There is a tagline for the film, that says it is not a romance and it is not a ghost story, which means you can’t help but wonder about both those things. Sam talks about how she once loved Mother Mary and now Mother Mary seems desperate to regain the connection, which appears must be through Sam’s work, her creations. But the two seem divided by a wall. Is it only the pain of the past, or is it something larger, more profound?

MOTHER MARY, for all its visually beauty and powerful performances, gives away little, only a few brief hints, meaning it asks a lot of the audience. Not all will be willing to give what it asks, and for some, the opaqueness may just be tiresome, especially with a long running time. If you saw the play, you may have an edge here, but a film is supposed to be able to stand on its own. Still, I’m curious enough to want a second look at the film, and I wonder what my reaction will be to that second viewing. Audiences will have to judge for themselves, but MOTHER MARY does deliver striking, sterling performances from both Anne Hathaway and Michaela Cole which delight as they mystify, and Coel is a lightning-strike of a revelation, and a performer I hope we will see again soon.

MOTHER MARY opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 24, 2026.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

MICHAEL (2026) – Review

Okay, many would say that the Summer season got off to a very early start with the still-playing PROJECT: HAIL MARY and the animation “one-two-punch” from Pixar and Illumination. That could be the case, since the big box office race had, until recent years, its “starting line” on the first of May, and the “finish line” just before Labor Day. Well, the “starting gun” has been fired with this big-budget musical “biopic”. While many of these have been relegated to the “prestige” months near the end of the year (to qualify for awards), this one is setting its sights on a big “wide” opening in many, many screens. This makes sense, since the subject held a “royal” moniker. We’re talking about the “king of pop”, the sparkly “gloved” one, MJ, though this potential blockbuster’s title simply uses his forename, MICHAEL.


This cinematic retelling doesn’t begin with his birth. Rather, it opens sixty years ago, as an eight-year-old Michael Jackson (Juliano Valdi) and his four brothers, now dubbed the “Jackson 5,” are coached and trained by their papa Joe (Colman Domingo) while mama Katherine (Nia Long) adoringly watches. But the road to fame includes long, grueling hours of rehearsal and the savage punishments from Joe. Eventually, they are discovered by Motown Records exec Suzanne de Passe (Laura Harrier), who brings them to her boss, the company founder Berry Gordy (Lorenz Tate). He’s a kind, nurturing mentor, the opposite of Joe, who patiently tells the lad not to “move around so much” in the studio. The team is a sensation, as the story springs ahead to 1978, with the family now living in an Encino, CA mansion. But now 20-year-old Michael (Jaafar Jackson) lives a sheltered life in a bedroom filled with toys, animals, and ideas for a solo album, which irritates Joe. Thinking this will “derail the gravy train,” he tells Michael’s agents that he can do a solo album in his “off time” (after the team’s 9-to-5 schedule). MJ’s a smash “single act, and soon yearns for more artistic freedom. Encouraged by his Mom, bodyguard/driver Bill Bray (Keilyn Durrel Jones), and new attorney John Branca (Miles Teller), Michael becomes a solo superstar, hitting new heights with the most successful record of all-time, “Thriller, produced by Quincy Jones (Kendrick Samson). As the years pass, MJ dominates MTV with lavish music videos, amasses a zoo on the grounds of his home, “steals the show” on the “Motown 25th” TV special, and indulges in cosmetic surgeries (he’s haunted by the childhood taunts of “big nose”). But Joe’s not finished with him, as he pressures his son to join his brothers on the “Victory” tour and be part of a “tie-in” commercial shoot for a soft drink company sponsor. This leads to a life-changing on-set accident that sets in motion a plan for Michael’s independence.


The ensemble cast works hard to recreate these pop culture icons, especially the title role, which is shared by a pair of talented screen newcomers. Getting the “lion’s share” of screentime is Jackson (yup, he’s the nephew of the “superstar”), who is a striking physical recreation, particularly in the musical numbers. Yes, he’s got the “moves” down so well that it’s a shame that he’s given such a limited dramatic arc. In most scenes, Jaafar flashes a frozen, immovable smile as he’s showered with praise or deals with family drama. Still, there are a few flashes, as he picks his lawyer, or during a “creation” sequence. Valdi is completely captivating as a ten-year-old (claiming to be eight) Michael, effortlessly earning empathy, whether serenading an adoring throng or enduring Joe’s “guidance”. As the story’s main “villain”, the superb Domingo deftly conveys Joe’s bullying swagger, though, again, we’re not given much insight into his motivations, other than greed. Teller also has little to work with, as Michael’s champion, who is often just a supportive ear and often verges on the old “white savior” cliche. Much could be said of Jones as the “dad surrogate” Bray. Long is solid as mom Katherine, who is finely given some strong scenes against Domingo in the third act. And kudos for casting a beloved comic treasure in a cameo role that harkens back to another musical biopic (no spoilers from me).

As I said, the musical recreations are exhilarating, reminding us of the exuberant sense of nostalgia, when the world seemed to float on a cloud of pop tunes (the 5 was perhaps the most fun act since the “Fab 4”). But for those hoping to get much more depth into this “pop royalty”, well, the film’s story is too light and fluffy. It’s a surprise since that comes from the man behind the “down and dirty” TRAINING DAY (can it be 25 years now), Antoine Fuqua. This is truly sanitized and pretty “toothless”. Since it’s authorized by the Jackson estate, Michael is so angelic, he often appears otherworldly (that’s why he’s an alien in the first MEN IN BLACK). It’s almost “The Adoration of Michael” as we see countless scenes of him doing visits to kids’ hospitals and bonding with youngsters in his happy place, “Tom’s Toys” (we know its real name). And then there are scenes so sweet your molars might ache, as Michael immediately bonds with pet chimp Bubbles, who seems to have been transported from the CGI ape world from that SF franchise, along with a whole pixel menagerie. Perhaps this “scrubbing” was needed in order to showcase and promote the music catalog and appease the family. But not everyone was on board, as sister Janet is not only absent, she’s never mentioned, leaving La Toya to be his fawning lil’ sis’.Still, there are a couple of sequences that offer us a glimmer of a more interesting biopic, including the aforementioned “creation” of one of his greatest hits, “Beat It’, and the hiring of Branca (“He’s my guy.”). Also in the film’s plus side is the superb production design by Barbara Ling, the costumes by Marci Rodgers, and the entire srt department and makeup team, though Joe looks a bit rough as he’s “de-aged” in the mid-60s opening. Those wanting to bathe in the musical memories will be blissfully taken back to their youth, but those of us who recall the later controversies and tablod “fodder” will find little “substance” in this “puff pastry”. At the final fade-ot we’re teased with a possibel sequel. If so, let’s hope it has a lot more dramatic heft than the sparkly simplicity and “canonizing” of MICHAEL.


2 Out of 4

MICHAEL is now playing in theatres everywhere

HAMLET – Review

It is fairly common to see Shakespearean plays re-set in a different time, sometimes retaining Shakespeare’s language and largely just changing costumes and settings, or sometimes re-writing the dialog while retaining mostly the plot. Director Aneil Karia’s new HAMLET, starring Riz Ahmed, does something different and more effective, retaining Shakespeare’s words but uses visual storytelling to place the story wholly in a modern setting, in this case of a wealthy British – South Asian family after the death of the billionaire CEO of the family’s large international business, Elsinore. His son Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) is left confused and bereft by his father’s death, and suspicious, even more so, by his uncle Claudius’ (Art Malik) swift move to not only take over the company but to marry Hamlet’s newly-widowed mother Gertrude (Sheeba Chadha).

As Hamlet, Riz Ahmed delivers a powerhouse performance, the success of which is based on Ahmed’s considerable ability to covey a host of information about both the character’s inner state and the social context while movingly speaking his Shakespearean lines. Ahmed does this brilliantly, with seemingly effortless style, making the character entirely of this modern world while beautifully speaking Shakespeare’s poetry. Riz Ahmed’s Hamlet is heartbreaking yet terrifying, in this moving performance. In several recent films, Ahmed has given a number of striking, subtle performances, and hopefully this new one will be a boost to his already-rising star.

In addition to fine acting, the other real strength of this adaptation of “Hamlet” is in it’s visual storytelling. Surprisingly little of Shakespeare’s words needed to be changed to re-set the story, because the film so powerfully conveys the story’s new circumstances by visual means. The film opens with a nearly wordless scene, where we see Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) participating in preparing his father (Avijit Dutt) for cremation, a scene that clearly lets us know a host of things about this family, such as that they are Hindu, British, and wealthy, as well as establishing Hamlet’s devastated emotional state, all within a few moments. The key to all this is in what we see – expressions, body-language, visual details – more than what we hear, so well-crafted performances are required.

Mostly, the play is intact despite the shifted time period, but a few scenes are deleted or redirected in Michael Lesslie’s fine script. Some dialog takes place between different people, and a few characters are eliminated or combined, but the changes serve this retelling well. Often it is the settings and the behavior and tone of the actors that modernize the play, a surprisingly effective approach. Most of the action, and all the emotional power, remains, delightfully so. While the beauty of Shakespeare’s words remain, the nature of some characters, their relationships and intentions, and meanings of scenes are sometimes altered to serve this new modern version.

Riz Ahmed delivers a striking powerhouse performance, and he is on screen nearly the whole time, but he is also well supported by a fine cast. The film eliminates some characters and scenes but sometimes incorporates parts of them in a refreshingly original way. Horatio is absent but some of his role is taken by other characters. Ophelia and Hamlet have more of a relationship, and he confides in her, not Horatio, about seeing a vision of his dead father. Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are also absent but some of their scenes, and hints of their character, at times fall to Laertes, which gives his character a new slant. Fortinbras takes on a new meaning, and other things and characters are re-interpreted, with new dimensions. There are no traveling actors to put on a play, but they are replaced by colorful South Asian dancers.

Polonius, the father of Laertes and Ophelia, is generally portrayed as talkative, meddlesome but well-meaning, but Timothy Spall plays him as a darker, more calculating character, the businessman uncle’s right-hand man, tasked with keeping tabs on Hamlet to head off potential interference in their plans. Morfydd Clark’s Ophelia plays a greater part in the story, as well as being more assertive and involved in what happens. Joe Alwyn’s Laertes is also more complex, Laertes but also a bit Horatio, and a bit of Rosencrantz and Gildenstern, who do not appear in this version. Other characters, and scenes, are transformed, sometimes in surprising ways, yet all the changes support moving the story into its modern form.

Unlike some time-shifted versions, director Aneil Karia puts much more thought into what we see as the actors speak their lines, not just the sets and costumes but their posture, actions, and body-language, along with vocal tone. A great deal of information is transmitted wordlessly in every scene. An example is where Polonius encounters Hamlet as he is strolling and reading a book. In this film, Hamlet is not reading a book but instead, is in his late father’s office, going through business papers and looking for clues, when he is interrupted by Polonius, who asks what he is reading. The words are the same but the meaning is entirely shifted. Another more powerful example is Hamlet’s famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy, delivered while an upset Hamlet is driving his sports car, angrily weaving in and out of traffic, as clear and harrowing a depiction of a young man unbalanced and on the verge of suicide as you can imagine. The scene is powerful and frightening, yet entirely fresh and original.

There is little that is stage-y about this version, and in fact, it is remarkably visually dynamic. The action is not confined to the family’s lush estate or its many, sometimes claustrophobic rooms. Scenes take place all around London, in a club with driving music, driving along city streets, in event spaces, or on lush lawns festooned with party lights, all of which work incredibly well for the film’s storytelling.

Altogether, this HAMLET has to rank as one of the best screen adaptations. It is a remarkable film re-setting of Shakespeare’s drama, a fresh view of Shakespeare’s great classic in a striking, modern setting, yet a version that still retains the original’s emotional power and tragedy while putting it entirely in our world. With outstanding acting, particularly by Riz Ahmed, and excellent visual and production values, this HAMLET is sure to thrill Shakespeare fans as well as general audiences.

HAMLET opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 10, 2026.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

SIRAT – Review

“Sirat” is an Arabic word meaning a bridge spanning the chasm between heaven and hell, one that is thin as a thread and sharp as a sword’s edge, as we are told at the start of the movie SIRAT, an Oscar-nominated Spanish drama about a man, with his young son in tow, who is searching for his lost 20-something daughter at a rave party in the south Moroccan desert. The word Sirat is Arabic and comes from Muslim belief, but there is little heavenly in SIRAT’s world. However, there is plenty of pulsing techno/electronic music, in this searing tale of a group of people on a dangerous journey crossing the north African desert, a journey that will challenge and maybe break them.

SIRAT, set in Morocco but mostly in Spanish and French, is nominated for both the Best International Feature and Best Sound at the upcoming Academy Awards. Director Oliver Laxe co-wrote the script with Santiage Fillol, and the tender and heartbreaking tale is driven by a tense, propulsive, pulsing techno/electronic score by Kangding Ray.

An ordinary-looking Spanish man, Luis (Sergi Lopez), enters a world of hundreds of mostly young, European revelers dancing trance-like in front of a wall of amps set up in the Moroccan desert, blasting electronic and techno music continuously, along with a laser light show at night. There is a sort of outsider vibe to this large collection of people who have come to the desert to dance away the conventional world. Luis is out of place but he and his son Esteban (Bruno Nunez Arjona) are there on a mission to find his daughter who disappeared at a rave five months earlier.

Esteban looks like he is about ten and has a little white dog with him, as he and his father wander among the dancers, day and night, showing everyone at the rave a photo of the missing grown daughter. The dancers are a ragtag crowd, seeming disconnected from the world, outsiders by choice or circumstance, but they politely look at the photo before shaking their heads, to say they have not seen her.

One group of five, Steff (Stefania Gadda), Josh (Joshua Liam Henderson), Tonin (Tonin Janvier), Jade (Jade Oukid), and Bigui (Richard “Bigui” Bellamy), tells Luis there is another rave after this one, which he might also check for his daughter.

On the second day of the rave party, a caravan of Moroccan army trucks shows up, and tell the crowd that “all EU citizens need to evacuate.” The military officers do not say why, but the event suggests an impending war or conflict. The military convoy is there to escort to Europeans in their trucks, vans and RVS out of the desert.

Luis and his son, in their van, line up with the rest of the vehicles leaving the location, but suddenly the two RVs in front of them, carrying the group of five who told Luis about the other rave party, suddenly bolt out of line and take off across the desert. At Esteban’s urging, Luis impulsively follows them, and they race ahead of military vehicles in pursuit.

That snap decision sends the father and son, with this ragtag collection of friends, on a strange, harrowing trek across very rugged, desolate terrain, to an uncertain fate.

Except for renown Spanish actor Sergi Lopez, the rest of the cast are all non-actors, mostly found by the director at raves he attended. That casting choice gives the film an authenticity in this world where it is set, but they are also compelling and charismatic characters on screen. The sweeping photography of the vast desert landscape combined with the driving electronic soundtrack creates a tense sense that anything may happen as well as an air of foreboding.

We are not told why those five, Steff, Josh, Tonin, Jade and Bigui, made that break, but there are hints that there may be reasons they do not want to return to Europe. We also do not know why the Moroccan army where herding the Europeans out of the country, but we hear snippets on the radio about war, before one of the ravers shuts it off, maybe preferring not to know, although one of them suggests it is WWIII.

Those unanswered questions give the film a party at the end of the world vibe but this is not a Mad Max knock off. The story is both tender and heartbreaking, with danger around every bend.

The ravers seem to know the back roads well, suggesting they may have been in northern Africa for some time, wandering from rave party to rave party. Although Luis is wary of these strangers at first, they extend kindness to him at unexpected moments and a bond forms. They are surprisingly resourceful and self-reliant but this is a harsh environment and circumstances where anything can happen, including death.

Director Oliver Laxe effectively builds tensions as these people wander in the desert hoping to avoid the world and its conflict by running ahead of it. Harrowing things happen, and there is a sense of doom and foreboding that is amped up by Kangding Ray’s techno score, which is a perfect fit. Heartbreak and horrendous things may lay down this rock-strewn road, and when tragedy does strike, things start to spin off unanticipated directions, as this gripping drama wavers between human tenderness and terrifying chance beyond their control. Walking the thin line that that title suggests, SIRAT is unforgettable drama that is worth the heartbreak.

SIRAT, mostly in Spanish and French with English subtitles, opens in select theaters on Friday, Mar. 6, 2026.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

SONG SUNG BLUE – Review

(L to R) Hugh Jackman as Mike Sardina and Kate Hudson as Claire Stengl in director Craig Brewer’s SONG SUNG BLUE, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2025 All Rights Reserved.

So who’s up for some great tunes on this big holiday…, at the multiplex? No, we’re not talking about any Christmas carols (you’re probably hearing those jingle bells in your sleep by now). We’re talking a full-fledged musical movie, though it’s not another bold brassy big-screen version of a stage musical in the wake of WICKED: FOR GOOD (though it’s really an expanding of its second act). This new release may be more in that subgenre of the “jukebox musical” as it focuses on the pop songs of an iconic star, although it’s not a biopic of him (much like ELVIS or ROCKETMAN). You see, this is a true life dramatic love story about a “tribute band” of that singing superstar. Sounds confusing? It’ll all be clear with the first few notes (and scenes) of SONG SUNG BLUE.

That title tune is heard in the opening scene, in which Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) serenades his AA support group after he has hit a big sobriety milestone in late 1980s Milwaukee. From there he’s off to his sweet “side gig” as part of a “tributes” show at the state fair. Mike walks out after the organizer insists that he take on the songs of Don Ho (“Tiny Bubbles”). No, Mike wants to perform the works of his idol, Neil Diamond. As he exits, Mike stops to catch the fetching Patsy Cline (“Walkin’ After Midnight”) songstress Claire Stingl (Kate Hudson). He strikes up a conversation with her later that night, leading to a date for the two divorced parents (Mike’s teenage daughter visits once a month or so). He tries to bond with Claire’s energetic pre-teen son Dayna (Hudson Hensley) and her somewhat surly teenage daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson). After a quick “jam session” Mike asks Claire if she would consider partnering with him for his “dream Diamond tribute review” that he dubs “Thunder and Lightning” (the latter being his stage persona while she’d be the former). Claire is thrilled and seals their partnership with a kiss. They assemble a back-up band and begin performing in bars, wedding halls, and eateries in the Wisconsin/Illinois area. Through it all, the two become much more than a singing duo, eventually tying the knot. Their reputation is on the rise, leading to an “opening act” slot at a Pearl Jam concert. The sky seems to be the limit, but the joyful music is almost silenced as fate hits several “sour notes” to challenge their sweet harmonies.

I’ll just get this out of the way: Jackman and Hudson are superb singers. Yeah, that’s not a big revelation, since Hugh has a couple of Tonys on his mantle and Kate cut an album (they still call them that) last year. But that skill is certainly essential in these roles in order to “sell” them as a vocal duet. As for the other aspects of their performances, Jackman may have a bit more to do, as Mike is the “entry point” to this true tale. The “movie mutant” has swagger to spare, as he pushes past the goofy hairstyle and the flashy fashions to give us a man who overtakes the inner demons from his past by reinventing himself. His furrowed brow hints at Mike’s PTSD from serving in Nam, while he still has a vulnerability with the knowledge that his body is failing him and his “time clock” may halt at any time. The bubbly Hudson brings out the best in him. Beneath that beaming smile, Claire has had lots of heartbreak in his own past, and decides to bask in the high she gets from singing. In the story’s second act, we see that life tries to snuff out that spark, until family and friends re-ignite it. It’s no wonder Hudson was the “queen of rom-coms” as she conveys Claire’s joy in getting another chance at love. The film’s other great standout is Anderson as Claire’s teen daughter, Rachel. Sure, she starts as a clichéd snarky “eye-roller”, but she shows how the love of Mike for her mom warms that cynical heart, even making her an ally of his when things get tough, and as she faces her own big life-changing decision. Oh, and there are a couple of 1980s movie stalwarts on hand for support. Fisher Stevens is solid as Mike’s dentist-backer, and Jim Belushi goes all “cheese-head” (right outta’ FARGO) as the tour bus-drivin’ manager. The 90s are repped by Michael Imperioli from “The Sopranos” as the tributes show boss (and resident Buddy Holly) who plays back-up guitar for the revue.


Though no stranger to movies with music, this film is an interesting detour for director/ screenwriter (adapting the same-titled documentary by Greg Kohs) Craig Brewer, after making his 2005 breakout hit, the hip-hop-flavored HUSTLE AND FLOW followed by the 2011 remake of FOOTLOOSE. He takes us past the high camp (exploited in 2001’s SAVING SILVERMAN) of Diamond’s 70s heyday, though we get some Elvis-style kitsch, to get us into the minds and hearts of Mike and Claire. This lulls us into thinking that their love story will always prevail. The huge chaotic challenges make for an abrupt shift (though it seems too extreme, it’s all true), one that may be too much for some viewers, Brewer never veers too much into the melodramatic while keeping the story firmly planted in its frigid northern US roots. Brewer also keeps the pacing smooth, breaking up the dialogue with a burst of song, and not overdoing the big rehearsing and performing montages. Aside from those great hairstyles and fashions, the music selection is pretty terrific, touching on all the big Diamond hits while introducing some often neglected tunes (I now know a whole lot about “Soolaimon”). Hey, there’s even a couple of Patsy Cline and Buddy Holly classics. And the set decorators really capture the tone of the early 1990s. Some of the more jaded filmgoers may think that this is merely a sweet little flick to see with your older relatives, but they may be surprised by the endearing look at the performers that don’t fill arenas, the bus-travelin’ workin’ stiff weekend warriors. That and the chemistry of Hudson and Jackman really blend for a nearly pitch-perfect romance in SONG SUNG BLUE.

3 Out of 4

SONG SUNG BLUE opens in theatres everywhere on Christmas Day, 2025

HAMNET – Review

Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes and Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare in director Chloé Zhao’s HAMNET, a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal give striking performances in Chloe Zhao’s lushly beautiful, romantic and heartbreaking tale of William Shakespeare’s marriage to his wife Anne and the death of their young son Hamnet, whose loss led the Bard to write perhaps his great play “Hamlet.” As a title card at the film’s start tells us, the names Hamnet and Hamlet were considered essentially the same, alternate ways of spelling it. In Zhao’s drama, Shakespeare’s mysterious wife is renamed Agnes. As little is actually known about Shakespeare’s wife Anne and their marriage, which gives director Chloe Zhao free rein to be inventive. Love, death, pain and hope are the themes.

The film was inspired by Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning novel “Hamnet” and written for the screen by director Zhao and the author, the resulting drama is more Chloe Zhao’s vision than a true adaptation of the book. Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao proved herself a master of powerful imagery framing human questing and connection in NOMADLAND, and brings those gifts to this tale as well, but in this case in a more intimate way, of two people falling in love and having a family.

While the real William Shakespeare was 18 when he married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the director chose to ignore that age gap in casting Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. In the film, William Shakespeare is a young struggling Latin tutor, now doing farm work for neighboring families to help out his parents who had fallen into debt. Anne, now Agnes, is the strong-willed oldest daughter of a more well-off family, where Will is doing some manual labor. Smitten on first sight, the young tutor offers to teach the family’s younger children, as a way to be closer, in order to woo Agnes.

Beautiful, wild, independent Agnes, for her part, is less keen on young Will, but he wins her over with poetry and persistence. Despite opposition by both families (with an excellent Emily Watson as Will’s severe mother), they wed and have three children, oldest daughter Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) and fraternal twins, Judith (Olivia Lynes) and Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe).

The drama follows their marriage and the launch of Shakespeare’s career in London, while wife Agnes and the children stay behind in the English countryside. Their bond is strong but nothing is more tragic for any couple than the loss of a child, and it has a transformative effect on their lives and relationship.

HAMNET is visually stunning throughout and particularly magical in the early portions. Period costumes and props are perfectly done. The setting is often a wild English countryside of old forests haunted by secrets and ancient Celtic magic. The film ranges from that wild, natural world beginning to the London stage of the Globe Theater where the play born of tragedy takes form.

Jessie Buckley is particularly moving in this drama, as a wild soul who seems as much a child of forest as anything human. There are references that her true mother was a forest-dweller, with all the magical implications of that, and the daughter is only partly of this staid village world, hints often presented in vivid, visual form. Zhao blends the visual and the dramatic well in creating these characters and their lives but she is aided greatly by Jessie Buckley’s strong performance. Paul Mescal’s William Shakespeare comes across as more grounded but firmly determined to have this wild woman and to build their lives.

HAMNET does not try to answer all questions about Shakespeare’s marriage or the creation of “Hamlet.” The film is, of course, romantic but in a human, passionate and believable way, rather than a conventional film romance. Tragedy breaks that lovely dream, throwing the characters in conflict, as they each grapple with grief in their own ways. Unlike many films this year, this one focuses purely on the personal and the individual rather than the large world, putting the experience of love and of grief at its center. The stunning natural-world photography suggests something epic and enduring, but real focus of this drama are the human emotions, of love and heartbreak, from which comes the creation of something that endures for the ages.

HAMNET opens in theaters on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

UNIVERSAL – Review

Joe Thomas as Leo, in UNIVERSAL. Courtesy of Subspin/Dominion 3.

Every once in a blue moon, two or more young adults can go to a cabin in the woods and not be besieged by cannibals, psychos or demons. Thank goodness! So long as threats to life and limb aren’t inevitable, city folk might still venture out into nature occasionally, thereby supporting rural economies. But such apparent safety is no guarantee of grist for an entertaining non-gory movie.

In UNIVERSAL, writer/director Stephen Portland delivers a nerd-fest of science and computer stuff, presented by a cast of three. Leo (Joe Thomas) and Naomi (Rosa Robson) are an overworked academic couple who vow to unplug COMPLETELY for a weekend to just stay focused on each other. He’s a geneticist on the verge of some big breakthrough in understanding more about DNA that could explain much of the universe and the nature of our existence. He’s also under pressure from his funding source to deliver something tangible ASAP; Naomi’s field is different, but close enough to understand his project. He’s been avoiding a persistent fanboy named Ricky, who claims to have helpful information.

Soon after arrival, their solitude is shattered when Ricky shows up. The fanboy turns out to be an attractive, determined young woman (Kelley Mack) with boundless energy and no sense of boundaries. Her social skills are severely lacking (probably somewhere on the high-functioning end of the spectrum; no mention of whether she was vaccinated), but her findings may significantly advance Leo toward his pressing goal. Naomi resents the hell out of the intrusion that decimates their promise to each other. But Ricky’s urgency draws both in, making the computer analysis of her data the centerpiece of their weekend, and our movie experience.

Maybe I’m not the best audience for this film, since the science and its implications largely flew over my head. Every scene occurs in and around the cabin, as if it could have been adapted from the stage. The dialog-heavy script, with little visual variety, makes MY DINNER WITH ANDRE seem like an action-adventure flick. The main source of suspense comes from Kelley Mack’s character. Is she really just a devoted scientist, or does she have some more sinister agenda? If they find a big breakthrough, will they agree on how to claim credit and monetize the results?

No more is possible without spoilers, other than the sad note that Mack died of cancer shortly after filming, making this her last on-screen appearance. Besides serving as a producer here, she brought an enigmatic sparkle that energized what could have been a total snooze-fest. It’s a shame we won’t be able to see more from her.

UNIVERSAL is available On Demand starting Friday, Dec. 5, 2025.

RATING: 1.5 out of 4 stars

TRAIN DREAMS – Review

In this high-speed modern age, it’s hard to recall a time when much of the country was nearly inaccessible. No airports or interstate “super-highway” systems existed, just a little over a hundred years ago. Well, somebody had to “clear the way” for the ever-expanding US population as it headed west. So, what were these hard-toiling workers like, emotionally. What were their desires, and how did they carve out a life for themselves, and, eventually, their families? This new film, based on a recent celebrated literary work, tries to answer those questions as it focuses on one such man in the early part of the previous century. After several grueling hours of laying track, did he close his eyes, and drift away into a slumber filled with TRAIN DREAMS?

That laborer at the heart of this story is Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), who relates his humble beginnings as a young orphan arriving via train to Idaho in the late 19th century. Most of his early memories revolve around the railroad and the surrounding forests. He sees Chinese immigrant rail workers being driven out of town, and even gives a water-filled boot to a dying man near the bottom of a ravine. In his teenage years, he hops on to a locomotive that takes him far away from his adopted family, to Washington state. After a long stint as a logger, he settles in a small town and meets a lovely young woman at a church function. Robert and Gladys (Felicity Jones) begin a romance that culminates in marriage. They build a home near a stream on the edge of the woods far from their village. Robert is happy, but he’s haunted by dreams of an incident in which he failed to intervene in an attack on a Chinese co-worker. Soon the couple welcome a daughter, Kate. But Robert soon leaves once more, to work on the railway expansion hundreds of miles away. He keeps to himself, but befriends a colorful old explosives excavator named Arn (William H. Macy). When that job is completed, Robert rushes back to his cabin for a happy reunion. Sadly, fate has other plans. He must decide whether to drift from job to job or try to put down roots near the site of his great, heartbreaking loss.

In the lead role, Edgerton must make Robert compelling without reciting much dialogue. And he certainly succeeds, making his tired eyes a window into the stoic man’s soul. We can almost share his aches and pains as Robert toils to make a better life for his family. This gives an extra emotional wallop as Edgerton conveys his joy (falling in love, playing with Kate) to his sorrow (that tragedy and the horror of the work camps). Many of the most powerful moments are the scenes shared with Jones, whose Gladys is the bright, shining light in Robert’s dreary drudgery. It’s surprising to see her as the main catalyst to the relationship, catching him “off guard”. Jones’ beaming gaze at him informs us of her passion for the new life she has begun as wife and mother. Another terrific actress, Kerry Condon, also brightens Robert’s life as a new-found friend who begins a job at a nearby forest preserve. Their interplay is quite engaging, as she describes her own love of the solitude of nature. As is the case in his superb supporting work, Macy makes the most of his scant screen time as the lazy bur lovable “blaster” who makes Robert the “sounding board” for his philosophy, while generating laughs as he tinkers with faulty equipment (“Stand back, boy…aw, c’mon now!”).

With his sophomore feature, director Clint Bentley carefully crafts a somber saga of early American life in the West. He also co-wrote the screenplay adaptation of the Denis Johnson novella with Greg Kwedar, which eschews showy histrionics in order for Robert to tell his own story of love, loss, and regret. There’s a dream-like quality to the early scenes of young Robert collecting lifelong memories that will shape his later years. Adding to the dreamscape of the title, Bentley presents images and sequences that could be fantasy or fact, as Robert deals with his own fractured history. All this is enhanced by the rich, luminous cinematography of Adolpho Veloso (tough to go wrong with that lush scenery). For those film fans in need of a quiet, contemplative respite from the usual “rapid_fire”, bombastic movie fare, TRAIN DREAMS is cinema serenity.

3 Out of 4

TRAIN DREAMS streams exclusively on Netflix beginning on November 21, 2025

SAMURAI FURY – Review

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.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

“Petra” Season 2 – TV Series Review

A scene from the Italian TV crime series “Petra” Season 2. Courtesy of MHz Choice

It’s been three years since I reviewed the earlier episodes of the entertaining Italian procedural, “Petra.” This round not only provides a pleasant return to its picturesque Genoa setting, but gives us an engaging evolution of the eponymous star. Here’s the usual refresher link: https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2022/11/petra-tv-series-review/

We rejoin Petra and Antonio after they’ve been on a long (by US standards) vacation. She stayed home alone with her pet tarantula – as would, of course, be her wont. He indulged in the uncharacteristic luxury of a long cruise, meeting a woman he adored (Beatrice, played by Manuela Mandracchia). But middle-aged shlub that he is, Antonio felt under-qualified to keep it going on land, since she was one of the VERY wealthy elite of the community. The class gap seemed to bother him, far more than her.

A more significant change manifests in Petra. She’s finally unpacked all those cartons from her move and filled that drab apartment with nice furnishings. Yet there’s still no artwork adorning the institutional gray walls. Baby steps towards normalcy. She’s opened up her personality appreciably, smiling and joking more than before. She’s still relationship-averse, assuming anything serious would end badly… again.

This second season has more heart, with greater emphasis on character development and personal story arcs, romantic and otherwise. Besides the spider, Petra continues another idiosyncrasy that fans of our “Quincy” series will recognize – keeping a memento from the clues at the end of each solved case.

But now to address the main course – the murders to be solved. As before, each 90-minute episode addresses new crimes, so bingeing isn’t as important for following the proceedings. In the first, a guy she meets from the web for a “zipless… shall we say, boink” turns up the next day as the season’s first murder victim. She keeps that one-nighter a secret for a while, so she’ll be allowed to stay on the case. It turns out that he was married with two kids and a complex set of personal and business activities, leaving a whole lotta motives and possible murderers to sort through. The second episode begins with a homeless guy in an alley being killed by a bullet, then brutally kicked by skinheads. Are those loathsome louts the culprits? Or was there more in the man’s pre-destitution life that caused his demise, along with others that followed?

The third episode begins with the murder of a dude in a jester costume during the colorful festivities of Carnival. Since everyone frolicking in the crowded street was in costume, ID’ing the killer wasn’t helped much by footage from surrounding street cams. The solution had to be extracted from old business with old friends/frenemies as well as recent events. The last episode revolved around sex trafficking and prostitution – mainly affecting the lives of minors.

Though there are moments of levity along the way, these are all handled as dramas, without the comedy side of other Italian favorites like “Detective Montalbano,” “Makari” or “Monterossi.” Three of the four cases were harder to figure out than one. It would be interesting to know which episode any of you find to be the weakest mystery link in the chain. Perhaps your mileage will vary.

What I’d previously described as a miniseries turned out to be two four-episode seasons that end in a satisfactory place for most of the principals (i.e. no cliffhangers), but leaves the door open for a third season. Since this quartet aired abroad in 2023, which was three years after the first foursome, it’s quite possible that more will follow. Fine with me if that’s the way the renewal winds blow.

“Petra” Season Two, mostly in Italian with English subtitles, begins streaming on MHz Choice starting Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars