Tag: Dramedy

“Chantal” – TV Series Review

A scene from the Dutch TV series “Chantal.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

We’ll start the review of “Chantal: Season One” with a “consumer caution:” if you’re looking for an extension of the 2007 soft-core porn flick with the same title, this ain’t nowhere close to the same ballpark, so cool the jets of your libido before starting.

Regular readers know I’ve reviewed a lot of European crime series here, including many that were comedic in tone. This dramedy offers a couple of unique aspects: it’s our first from Belgium, and it’s more droll than other light faves like “Capitaine Marleau” or “Captain Sharif”. The familiar part is that the eponymous police detective (Maaike Cafmeyer) comes to a small town to head its unit. She moves there with her daughter (Anna-Marie Missoul) seeking a less taxing turf than before, so she’ll have more time to study for the Commander exam. This is meant to be only a short-term gig before moving to Brussels for the higher-level training if she passes, and a meatier position thereafter.

The little town of Loveringem, located in the western part of Flanders, isn’t quite ready for a female cop. Even though Chantal is middle-aged, everyone she meets assumes this newcomer must be an underling. She’s also resented by Rik “the Sheriff” Cloedt (Dries Heyneman) who assumed he’d become top banana, only to be outranked by the first distaff colleague they’d seen. Besides the sexism, Chantal has to circumvent smug cops from higher-ranking agencies who diss her little band of locals and try to shunt them off to menial tasks… or less.

Part of the droll humor comes from the prevailing cowboy motif of the community, despite its apparent dearth of cattle. Most of the guys dress like extras in an oater. They typically drink beer from the bottle, rather than wine. The homey main bar/social hub (Café Misery) looks like a roadhouse teleported from the southern US, complete with country music and line dancing. Everything but a mechanical bull in the décor.

Season One consists of eight hour-long episodes, opening and closing with two-parters, surrounding six stand-alone murders to solve. As usual for Euro-fare, there’s not much action or visible gore throughout. The scripts are written well enough so that even the more obvious mysteries are entertaining to watch. The cast is completely non-glamorous, making all the characters as relatable as they come, with a mix of bad eggs, good folk and oddballs. A bunch of players get fleshed out with story arcs, making the series grow cozier for viewers as they continue.

No cliffhangers. Season Two has already aired abroad, and most who start here should be eager for Chantal’s further adventures to join this charming intro to our side of the Atlantic.

“Chantel” Season One, mostly in Dutch with English subtitles, begins streaming on MHz Choice starting Tuesday, Feb. 25.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

A LEGEND – Review

A scene from A LEGEND, starring Jackie Chan. Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

I’ve been such a huuuge Jackie Chan fan for so long I never pass up one of his releases, even though he’s been largely coasting on fumes for a while. In his prime, no one from ANY country crafted and executed scintillating action with comedy and charm like he did. But he turned 70 last spring (April 7, for those who want to celebrate his next birthday), and understandably can’t do what he did in front of the cameras, despite the amazing degree of agility and stamina he still has after so many years and so many injuries.  Just what’s been recorded in the legion of outtakes during decades of credits would have killed most mortals – including the dudes from those “Jackass” programs.

A LEGEND is a dramedy that dives into historical fantasy, as present-day archeology professor Jackie pursues ancient artifacts in a mostly wrap-around format, with elaborate staging of ancient battles between the Han Dynasty and the Huns, all triggered by finding a key relic from that era. Jackie and his students have the same recurring dreams about those ancient events, in which they looked exactly like several of the main figures. A much younger-looking Jackie was a general for, of course, the good guys. Events of the two periods are paralleled, as the quest for a hidden treasure-filled, power-granting cache drives both eras’ plot-lines.

The story is rather stale and much longer than it needed to be. It runs over two hours for maybe 90 minutes worth of content, with too much exposition dragging down the pace. But several battle scenes are epic in scale, backed by some gorgeous art design. In those major clashes, there’s considerably more blood and gore than in most of Jackie’s films. There’s also considerable CGI mastery in the mix, NOT including whatever they did to make Jackie look young in the historical sequences. Joan Rivers’ plastic surgeon delivered a more realistic appearance than what he got.

Throughout the film, most of the action, drama and romance are carried by Jackie’s handful of rather bland young co-stars, with relatively little of the Jackie we’ve all admired. But in the climactic sequence, he’s back for a typically frenetic fight with fast action and some of his signature comedic reactions. Patience with all that went before is rewarded… at last.

Several lyrical scenes rival the likes of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON for color and scope. One might enjoy this even more by fast-forwarding through chunks of dialog for undiluted focus on the good stuff.

A LEGEND, in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles, is available on digital Bl-Ray or DVD from Well Go USA starting Tuesday, Jan. 21.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

A REAL PAIN -Review

This weekend sees the release of a film that is an interesting variation on the “road” movies, and I’m not speaking of the beloved series that sent Bob Hope and Bing Crosby clowning and singing across the globe for nearly 20 years. Although, this film does spotlight an engaging if somewhat mismatched duo. And it can be quite funny, meshing with moments of despair and heartache. Naturally the old “fish out of water” tropes arise since neither character speaks the locale’s language, nor are they versed in the customs. In that way, there’s also an element of the old travelogues as we take in the land’s quaint beauty and “old world” charms. But “the sights” never distract us from the emotions, and the complex family relationship at the heart of A REAL PAIN.


At the story’s start we meet the first half of that duo, David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) as heads to the airport for a vacation away from his beloved wife and son back in NYC, where he works in media advertising (mainly those banner ads just a bit above this post). During the long cab ride he’s leaving lots of messages (“C’mon, pick up!”) for his cousin, the “in between gigs” thirtysomething (they were born mere weeks apart) Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin), who lives a couple of hours away from the city. The two reunite outside the gate of their flight to Poland, the birthplace of their beloved, recently deceased grandmother. The long trek gives them a chance to catch up as we observe that David is rather introverted and reflective while Benji’s in an unpredictable “wild card” going from outgoing and gregarious to dark and moody. And we find out that they’ve purchased two spots in a guided tour group of the country. After landing, they take the train to their hotel where they meet the rest of their “party” It’s headed by their British academic guide, James (Will Sharpe), who introduces them to the other tourists. There’s an older married couple, Diane (Liza Sadoovy) and Mark (Daniel Oreskes), a middle-aged recent divorcee Marcia (Jennifer Grey), and an emigree from Rhawnda, Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan). David and Benji will travel with them for most of the tour and “break away” to explore their grandmother’s birth home in a remote village. As the group sees the Polish architecture and historical sights (including several sculptures and a WWII concentration camp), the cousins explore their personal history as they attempt to repair a tight childhood bond that has been nearly severed by adulthood, forming new families, and deep internal turmoil. Will this trip bring David and Benji closer or is this a final reunion?

Though he’s being touted by the film’s marketing team as a supporting player, the story truly showcases the superb Culkin as, really, the title role. Benjy can be painful, either unintentionally cruel or just abrasive, yet somehow he draws us in rather than repels. Culkin’s expert comic timing meshes with Benjy’s often “no filter” verbal streaming, though he also conveys a real sweetness in the role’s vulnerability. He’s the puppy that shreds your favorite slippers in that it’s tough to unleash your anger at him. Perhaps this is part of the reason that Culkin’s been scooping up so many TV awards in the last few years. Providing the counterbalance, AKA the voice of reason and a classic comedy “straight man”, is the intense but also endearing Eisenberg, who eases up on the twitchy, rattled line delivery to make David a real caring brother to Benjy, while also taking the reigns as the parent trying to put him back on the right path, even providing a much-needed lifeline (as we learn of recent rifts in the relationship). Even though they don’t share the same parents, this is an “iron bond” and the two actors really make us believe in them as more than cousins. The quartet of fellow travelers is solid (nice to see you back in the movies, Ms. Grey), led by the terrific Sharpe who also becomes a great comic foil for Benjy as his pre-planned spiel is often disrupted, though we get the feeling that James really enjoys being rattled to the point of emotionally engaging with his background’s legacy.

Back to Mr. Eisenberg, big kudos on his sophomore feature directing effort. As with WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD, he also crafted the screenplay, though he’s tasked with acting in this one. And he really delivers, giving us a wonderful character study of the two men, while also sending us into the rich history of Poland and its people. Plus it’s the first time a narrative film has shot inside a concentration camp, providing a somber respectful view of Majdanek. Everything adds to the story arc of the Kaplans whether they’re frantically catching a train (lots of rail travel) or just strolling into their adored granny’s neighborhood. It’s also impressive that Eisenberg gets such great dramatic dynamics between himself and Culkin (there’s a focused filmmaker). As the holidays begin to dominate the final weeks of the year, moviegoers wanting to explore another look at family bonds (and engage in some virtual vacationing) should make a real effort to see A REAL PAIN.

3.5 Out of 4

A REAL PAIN is now playing in select theatres

“Reindeer Mafia” TV Series Review

Samuli Edelmann as Sameli in the Finnish TV series “Reindeer Mafia.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

The title of this Finnish crime dramedy series, “Reindeer Mafia (Poromafia),” is a bit misleading. It’s not a major crime syndicate on the tundra. It’s a small club of guys wearing vests with their Wolverine logo (not the Hugh Jackman kind), hanging out in their clubhouse, and dabbling in petty crimes. The eponymous nickname is a tongue-in-cheek choice. The setting is a rural area, in which the strictly protected reindeer provide a significant part of the economic base.

The eight-episode season begins as their leader, Sameli (Samuli Edelmann) is returning from a stretch in prison for a manslaughter he may not have committed. His mother, Brita (Rea Mauranen) has just died after a long bout with cancer. She was the area’s biggest landowner, and the disposition of her estate becomes the central plot-driving element. Her assholish husband Rouku (Aake Kalliala) had big secret plans for developing the property that are frustrated when she leaves it all to her two sons and the daughter of the man who Sameli (presumably) killed, who also happened to be his fiancée Sara’s (Anna-Maija Tuokko) pappy. But the three heirs lack the big chunk of dough needed to pay the inheritance tax within a short window of time, leading to a scramble of plots and countermeasures to keep Rouku from having his way.

As one may expect from Scandinavian productions, everything is covered with snow, and mostly dark in hue and tenor. The first three episodes unfold so slowly that I considered letting it drop. But I’m glad I was patient (or stubborn) enough to persevere. Characters, backstories and plot threads start becoming clearer in the fourth, and the pace picks up for the rest of the way. It’s more of a suspenseful character drama than an action flick, but there are enough twists to keep one curious. Bad guys abound. Rouku is a stunningly loathsome figure, reeking of Machiavellian villainy. Plus, there’s a crooked cop and a sadistic drug dealer soiling the pristine landscape, along with several other questionable characters.

The comedy side of the dramedy is rather sparse until the latter half of the season. Between the plot, several quirky characters and the stark wintry environs, the production is somewhat reminiscent of our “Fargo” series, though either shorter on humor, or less amusing to a US viewer than it was to Finns. The proceedings are complex enough to make bingeing advisable, but not essential.

“Reindeer Mafia,” mostly in Finnish with English subtitles, streams on MHzChoice beginning Nov. 5, 2024.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

(L-R) Samuli Edelmann as Sameli and Anna-Maija Tuokko as Sara, in “Reindeer Mafia.” Courtesy of MHzChoice

MY OLD ASS – Review

As we enter into the Fall movie season, it’s time for an intimate lil’ “indie” that explores a theme that several blockbusters have also explored, time travel. Now this one isn’t focusing on the travel and his gadgets and gizmos aplenty, so we don’t get those “Pym Particles” or even that super-charged DeLorean. The intriguing premise presented here is a spin on “what if”, namely the Twilight Zone dream of getting a “drop in’ from your future self. And somehow this “out there” idea meshes with a coming of age dramatics, and a “rom-com”. It’s a challenging “balancing act” that is somehow propped up by a crude and quirky cellphone contact entered in as MY OLD ASS, and we’re not talking about a donkey.

Rather than starting in a long-ago time, this story is set in the modern day, just across the Canadian border. Elliot (Maisy Stella) is your basic free-spirited eighteen-year-old woman. This means that she’s occasionally self-absorbed and a bit inconsiderate. Rather than join her family for a big pre-college departure celebration meal (with a decorated cake ‘n’ everything), she decides to take her two best GFs on an overnight camping trip on an island in the big lake near town. Ah, but this evening will be special as Ro (Kerrice Brooks) has scored some mushrooms, which they’ll brew into a potent tea. It affects Ro and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) quickly though it seems to be “bupkis” for Elliott. That is until she starts a batch of s’mores and is joined by a stranger who emerges from the darkness. Elliot is “freaked”, but unprepared for this lady’s proclamation that she is her future self, 39-year-old Elliot (Aubrey Plaza). But it seems legit as they share a couple of body scars. As her friends drift away. the two Elliots share her tent. Young Elliott pleads for a bit of advanced “intel’ and later Future E finally relents and tells her to avoid a “Chad”. When Y E drifts off, F E grabs her phone and puts in her number, entering it as “My Old Ass”. When dawn breaks Y Elliott is alone, and believe she had a very weird “trip”. But then, as she skinny-dips, she encounters a young man named Chad (Percy Hines White). She’s perplexed until she discovers that new phone contact and dials it. And F E picks up. The warnings about Chad continue, but Y E feels a strong connection to this sweet charmer. And then it’s “radio silence” with “MOA”. Elliott tries to focus on strengthening her bond with her mom, pop, and two younger brothers while trying and failing to avoid Chad, who is working at the family cranberry biz. Should Elliott keep her distance from the beguiling Chad? And will she speak to her feature self once more? Maybe she needs some more ‘shrooms…

And speaking of the future, in a few years we’ll look back at this film as the breakout performance of Ms. Stella, her ‘calling card”. She confidently brings a fresh spin to the often cliche “teen at a crossroads”, making Elliott full of quirks and contradictions, but also capable of great warmth and kindness. And she can really ‘sell” the jokes while also tugging at our heartstrings. Now, it’s true that there’s little resemblance to Ms. Plaza as her future self, the duo does share a comedic “kinship”. Of course, Plaza “kills” in her limited screen time, but she also gets to “tug at the tear ducts in the emotional final act. Ditto for the compelling work of White as the affable and often baffled (why the agita from Elliot) Chad who wants to continue his mellow life, but is drawn to this offbeat lady. Kudos also to the energetic supporting work from Brooks as the most understanding of “sistas”, and to the two young actors playing Elliott’s siblings, Seth Issac Johnson as the golf-obsessed montone Max and pre-teen Carter Trozzolo as the manic Saorise Ronan-obsessed Spencer.

This is the second feature from a true “triple threat” (or more of a “hat trick talent”), actress/writer/director Megan Park who has a keen “ear” for family dynamics, and strong friendships. The gentle teasing intercut with harsh truths feels natural and never forced. Plus Ms. Park has given us a compelling heroine in Elliot who goes through an engaging and unexpected ‘character arc”. It’s a delicate ‘tightrope’ walk as Elliott has a passionate ‘fling” in the opening scene with a slightly older female “crush” and decides to ‘go for it” as college is looming. She doesn’t dismiss these feelings when Chad steps up, but rather she allows herself to be open to different relationship possibilities. Park also creates a unique backdrop in the sleepy lakeside burg and the bucolic family home/farm (it feels like a cranberry-flavored slice of Heaven). More importantly, Park goes for the big emotions and connects without us feeling emotionally over-manipulated. Even with the fantasy elements of meeting your twenty-year-old version, the story and the reactions feel honest. Even though saying the title to the ticket may feel awkward, MY OLD ASS is more than worth it.

3.5 Out of 4

MY OLD ASS is now playing in select theatres

TREASURE – Review

(L-R) Stephen Fry, Lena Dunham, and Stefan Zbigniew Zamachowski in TREASURE. Photo Credit: Bleecker Street and FilmNation

Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry play a daughter and her Holocaust-survivor father, on a trip to his native Poland in the 1990s, in the dramedy TREASURE. The trip is the daughter’s idea, and her plan is to learn about her family history, something her father and late mother always refused to talk about. Angry and frustrated at her parents’ refusal to share anything about their past, she plans to visit sites related to dad’s family and life to learn about the family she knows nothing about. Her father has steadfastly refused to talk about it, and with the death of her mother, she figured going to their home country of Poland was the only way. Unsurprisingly, revisiting Poland is not something dad wanted to do but he goes along, pretty much uninvited, to “protect her,” as he puts it. What he is protecting her from is a little unclear.

This pair couldn’t be more different in temperament, and have a prickly relationship. The daughter, Ruth (Lena Dunham), is grim, humorless, and no-nonsense, a New York-based music journalist, a vegan with rigid habits, who doesn’t seem to enjoy travel and worries about her tight budget. Dad Edek (Stephen Fry) is a joyful, outgoing fellow, who stops to flirt with most women he meets along the way and tells everyone they meet that his daughter is rich and famous, although she is neither. He refuses to be serious, at least on the surface, and Dad does his best to distract his daughter, to delay things, waste time, and send her on the wrong track, even trick her, to keep her from her mission. He is sometimes helped by a local taxi driver (Stefan Zbigniew Zamachowski) that the pair have picked up at the airport and turned into a kind of tour guide, after dad refuses to board the train his daughter had booked for the trip.

Julia von Heinz wrote and directs this dramedy about family, memory and Poland in WWII and in post-communist 1990s. The story is emotional, and often funny. At first, the situation seems a bit forced, contrived and awkward, but as the story unfolds, the film improves and becomes more believable. Fry and Dunham soften and deepen their characters, and both father and daughter work through some issues. Zamachowski as the driver provides a mediator between battling father and daughter, and adds his own comedy touches or serves as a comic foil, while supplying information about the post-communist Poland as they travel.

Ruth is there to investigate her family’s history, not to have fun, so she goes about his trip like a woman on a mission, or working an assignment. But her trip does include some educational tours, mostly because she has so few clues from her parents, both to learn about Poland and the Holocaust. The film does note how odd it is to have such tours of sites like Auschwitz. As admirable as it is to educate people, with the aim of “never again,” it is still seems strange and unsettling to have them as tourist sites. However, Ruth is mostly there to learn about her family. She has done some research and also visits places like a family cemetery and a one-time family home. But the closer she gets to the family sites, the more smiling, fast-talking dad seems desperate to derail her search.

Both Dunham and Fry are good, with Fry especially charming and funny. Early one, some odd-couple humor feels forced, but as things go along, the film improves as Fry’s and Dunham’s characters become more relaxed. Fry’s Edek is quite a plotter but slowly becomes less a hindrance, even revealing why he has been so secretive all these years. The film touches on true-history subjects, such as giving insight on how neighbors turned on their Jewish friends and neighbors, exploiting the Nazi occupation for their own advantage. Eventually the meaning of the title is revealed, in a twist that brings father and daughter together at last.

TREASURE debuts streaming on demand on Tuesday, July 30.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

NEW STRAINS – Review

A scene from pandemic-set lockdown dramedy NEW STRAINS. Courtesy of MEMORY

The low-key indie dramedy NEW STRAINS either succeeds or sucks, depending on what you’re seeking. For starters, do you want to recall the early days of the Covid pandemic through the eyes of a few others? That’s what co-directors, co-writers and co-stars Artemis Shaw and Prashanth Kamalakanthan serve up here. They portray, respectively, Kallia and Ram – a young couple staying in her uncle’s New York apartment as a getaway from their recent hassles and frustrations. Unfortunately, rather than explore the city honeymoon-style, the initial quarantine kicks in, sticking them in what becomes an unbearably claustrophobic situation.

She’s more energetic, romantic and sociable than her partner. He plunges into Woody Allen-esque anxiety, with a large dose of Howie Mandel-level germophobia, as this new peril with its unknown parameters shatters their plans… and moods. She’s horny; he’s paranoid. She goes out to breathe to the extent she can. He stays in, obsessing over the news and any unfolding information about the contagion.

As the quibbling and nitpicking escalate, it soon becomes apparent that these two have too little in common for forced prolonged cocooning. Their personalities are so disparate that one may even wonder why they got together in the first place. The film is short at under 80 minutes but will seem much longer to the viewer, as the imposed cloistering grates on the couple. Their different ways of handling this physically and emotionally widen the gap between them. Considerably.

Neither of them remains particularly likable, also adding to the downer factor. She lies about some things due to restlessness and frustrations with him; he gets more clingy. Both creators deserve credit for not making themselves characters who would be anyone’s idea of a role model. Though unrated as I write this, there’s probably enough non-erotic nudity (mostly Kallia’s breasts) for a likely R rating. Very little progress occurs, though there are minimal interactions with others; similar to what we all had to do in the early weeks of the outbreak. About 90% of the running time occurs in the apartment. It’s more likely to make you feel better about how you handled it compared to them than to elicit fond memories of mid-2020.

For a shoestring budget, they do a pretty good job of presenting a slice of life from that time – especially for a pair wearing so many hats despite little feature-length experience. The title serves double duty as the new strain of virus puts new strains on relationships. Whether audiences find it entertaining will vary widely.

NEW STRAINS debuts exclusively on the Memory VOD platform as of July 19.

RATING: 1.5 out of 4 stars

JANET PLANET – Review

Julianne Nicholson and Zoe Ziegler, in JANET PLANET. Courtesy of A24

In JANET PLANET, Julianne Nicholson plays Janet, the warming, single mother “sun” around which her daughter, 11-year-old Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) orbits like a planet. Adults are also drawn in by Janet, and circle around her, hoping to become permanent additions to her solar system. This well-acted, sly but slowly-paced dramedy benefits from a talented cast, and both strongly evokes the feeling of summer and a particular point in childhood when the parent is still the center of all but with change looming on the horizon.

Set in 1991 in western Massachusetts, there is much to admire in JANET PLANET, including its fine cast and excellent performances from Julianne Nicholson and Zoe Ziegler. There is beautiful photography, shot on 16mm film, showcasing green forest lanes and rolling hills, and naturalistic sound design captures to sounds of nighttime crickets, both of which effectively evoke the feel of summer and a sense of place in rural western Massachusetts, where the writer/director, playwright Annie Baker, grew up. The story is set in 1991, at a pivotal moment in the life of a child, when that child starts to see the parent who has been the center of their world in a new light that reveals their human flaws. There are plenty of parallels with the writer/director’s life and one can only guess how much of this is autobiographical.

All that is wonderful but what undermines this indie film is its languid pace, filled with long pauses and lingering over small moments. This is playwright Annie Baker’s first film. On stage, she is noted for her long pauses and silences in her plays, but what works well on stage, with live actors and a live audience, does not always work as well on film.

The acting is truly excellent with young Zoe Ziegler fascinating on screen. Julianne Nicholson is also splendid, playing her role with quiet restraint but exuding a hypnotic appeal with her freckled, fresh-faced beauty. JANET PLANET takes us through this long, dreamy summer as Lacy basks in her mother’s sunshine while a series of adults are also drawn into her obit. The film introduces each of these satellites with title cards and marks the exit of each with text like “exit Wayne.” Wayne is the first of these, an unlikely lover, played well by Will Patton, a dumpy depressive who is prone to frequent migraines and a tendency for stripping off his clothes no matter who is around. Wayne has a daughter who does not live with him, and one day, he, Janet and Lacy spend a day with her, including a trip to a mall, with all its 1990s pre-teen magic. Lacy quickly bonds with the sunny girl, who is just her age, but Wayne’s exit puts an end to that.

Next up is Regina, a woman that Janet had known years before and meets again at an outdoor theatrical performance at a hippie commune, which Janet is careful not to call a cult although it seems to be. The delightful Sophie Okonedo plays Regina, and at first when she flees the commune and her controlling lover, she seems a welcome addition to Janet and Lacy’s world. Until she wears out her welcome. Next is a briefer interlude with Regina’s ex, Avi (Elias Koteas) the leader of the cult-like commune, whose charisma draws Janet to him – until she quickly loses interest.

The whole time we see a mother and daughter who are uncommonly close. Lacy is an odd and dramatic child, whose call home from the camp comes with a threat to kill herself, which her mother reactes to as if she’s heard this before. Lacy is happy hanging arond with her mother and playing with her little model theater complete with home-made clay figurines. Her mother Janet is tolerate and loving but also has a tendency to overshare with her daughter, things that are beyond her at this age. In a final scene, where Janet has brought along Lacy to a community contra dance, we start to see the cracks between them and Lacy pondering joining the adult world.

There is much to admire and plenty of depth in this thoughtful and thought-provoking dramedy, but it is for a patient audience who can relax and drift along with its lazy float down the stream of life.

JANET PLANET opens Friday, June 28, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

SUNCOAST – Review

With 2024 only about six weeks old, filmgoers are getting a very interesting family comedy/drama that isn’t a “holdover” from the previous year’s limited Oscar-qualifying run. As with last weekend’s SCRAMBLED, this is the feature film directing debut of a writer/actress, though she’s not working in front of the camera. And this is almost an autobiography, with some name changes and a few names that were real people in the news. Actually, they were in the headlines, so it’s a fictionalized story with a true event as its backdrop, similar to the Jack and Rose romance of TITANIC. And it all figures into an engaging “coming of age” story that happened in the sunny, but often turbulent, vacation spot known as SUNCOAST.

And, as you might have guessed, that spot was down in Florida about twenty years ago. Teenager Doris (Nico Parker) is stressed out about beginning her junior year at a brand new school while juggling her homelife, which revolves around her disabled older brother Max. Their single mother Kristine (Laura Linney) must leave Doris in charge while she struggles to make ends meet in the food service industry. The big reason for the recent move is to get Max into the local hospice facility as his brain cancer is in its final stages. Unfortunately, that facility has a much more famous patient, Terri Schiavo, who is at the center of a passionate euthanasia debate in the US. So much so that the clinic is constantly surrounded by protesters. As Kristine is hyper-focused on Max, Doris can wander out and befriends one of the picketers, an amiable widower named Paul (Woody Harrelson), who becomes a surrogate papa to her. When Doris does get to her private Christian high school, she feels isolated until she eavesdrops on a group of popular young women who don’t have a location for their weekend party. Since mom is spending all her time with Max, Doris offers up their modest home “in the boonies”. Naturally the “kegger” gets out of control, but Doris is able to get things back in order before a parental “drop by”. Can Doris get accepted by the “in crowd” or is she being used? And what will happen if Kristine finds out? Could this betrayal and the impending passing of Max destroy their familial bond?

The story’s focus and its beating conflicted heart is Doris played with remarkable skill and savvy by the gifted Ms. Parker, perhaps best known for her work in the Tim Burton remake of DUMBO. Sure we’ve seen plenty of awkward lonely teens in the world of “indie” cinema, but Parker conveys the huge weight (not quite the world, but close) on Doris’ young shoulders. Yes, she’s worried about the impending loss of her big bro, but she feels guilty for yearning to experience the joys of teenage life during this dark time. Parker wisely doesn’t make her a victim, as we see her make some selfish, dangerous decisions while not destroying our empathy for Doris, even as she lashes out at those in our corner. The main supporter there is Paul played with low-key energy and strength by Harrelson. Sure, he gets on his soapbox or pulpit, but we get to see the man inside the “card-holder behind the police barricades. He’s not so strident and singled-focused that he can’t reach out to this young woman so desperate for a parental “lifeline”. And she does need one, as her only parent is almost smothered by the fear of future grief and tragedy. Kristine is truly the most compelling and most divisive character of the story and the superb Linney tackles the challenge with full gusto, giving a bravado performance. I’d describe her as Aurora Greenway of TERMS OF ENDEARMENT in the big hospital screed (“Give her a shot!!!”) turned up to eleven, but that would dismiss the nuance Linney brings. Even after Kristine uses guilt to prod Doris, there’s the feeling that she herself could drown in the wave of darkness washing over her. And she gives us a hint that Kristine knows that both of her kids may disappear from her life. This is a career highlight for the exceptional Linney.

The aforementioned writer/director is actress Laura Chinn, who makes this very personal “slice of life” a very compelling and expertly crafted “calling card” for her future film work. As I just stated she has guided the main acting trio to utilize their gifts in new ways, but she’s also turned several “teen movie” cliches on their heads. We’re programmed to view the popular cliques as sneering harpies (ala “The Plastiques”) who delight in delivering “burns” and verbal abuse. And certainly, these kids are taking advantage of Doris at first. Then we see how they connect and bring the wounded woman into their circle, even trying to “up” her dating skills, while urging one of the team to “move on” from a “player”. That’s just one of the ways that Chinn constantly surprises us. It’s easy to take satiric ‘swipes” at the uptight moralists of the school and the picket line, but we’re shown that they’re more than comic “targets”. “Dying with dignity” is discussed and debated, but Chinn never pushes one view over to the forefront, letting us ponder the choices. Best of all is the unique mother/daughter dynamic that is the driving force of the plot. Perhaps that’s what shines the brightest in the somehow life-affirming SUNCOAST.

3.5 Out of 4

SUNCOAST is now playing in select theatres and streams exclusively on Hulu beginning on Friday, February 9. 2024

ROSE – Review

L-R: Lene Maria Christensen as Ellen, Sofie Grabol as Inger, and Anders W. Berthelsen as Ellen’s husband, in the Danish film ROSE. photo: Martin Dam Kristensen/Nordisk Film. Courtesy of Game Theory

The subtitled Danish dramedy ROSE features an award-worthy performance from its star, elevating what could have been treacly melodrama. It’s often said that leading roles with some sort of disability provide Oscar bait. But that doesn’t always work out as well as it does here. For example, the Campbell Scott vehicle DYING YOUNG still annoys me whenever I think about it, even though it’s been over 30 years since I sat through the thing.

Sofie Grabol stars as Inger, a schizophrenic woman living with, and closely monitored by, her parents. We learn that her condition was one of adult onset, with progressive insights into possible causative factors from her backstory. But when her sister Ellen (Lene Maria Christensen) and brother-in-law (Anders W. Berthelsen) decide to take her on a bus tour to Paris, we watch with trepidation. Inger is prone to retreating into herself, or to sudden outbursts of anger, brutal honesty about her feelings in a conversation, with a sense of looming harm her condition might lead her to do to herself or others. Between periods of withdrawal and flareups, we see bits of the bright, talented personable woman she had been.

The trip is a suspenseful set of unpredictable swings between her old self and whatever the voice in her head may tell her to do or say. The reactions of her fellow travelers realistically run the gamut from supportive to angry and scared. Seeming impossible to manage can flip quickly into her mastery of a situation. She bounces between derailing the journey for all and making it better than it could have been without her, with no way to predict what facet of her personality will manifest.

The screenplay from writer/director Niels Arden Oplev (who directed the original Danish GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO) contains an ideal mix of tension, comic relief and exposition. No cutesy feelgood artifice in the package. Inger’s illness may not perfectly represent the lives of those with her condition but it feels about as honest as entertainment films can get. It was supposedly inspired by a true story, but not offered as a documentary. As I write this, star Sofie Grabol and the production have earned 10 awards and nominations in Denmark. More are sure to follow.

Since most of the running time occurs while the group is in Paris, the sets and scenery are major assets. Disclosing more about the plot or characters would be a disservice to the experience. Just know that a reviewer who generally shuns dramas with such a premise is very pleased to have seen this one.

ROSE, in Danish and French, with English subtitles, opens in theaters Nov. 15 and will be available streaming on Dec. 26.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars