Tag: Jessie Buckley

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

Win Passes To The St. Louis Advance Screening Of HAMNET

From Academy Award® winning writer/director Chloé Zhao, HAMNET tells the powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.

The film stars Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Joe Alwyn and Emily Watson and opens in St. Louis on December 5th.

Based on the novel by MAGGIE O’FARRELL, and produced by  Liza Marshall, p.g.a., Pippa Harris, p.g.a., Nicolas Gonda, p.g.a., Sam Mendes, p.g.a., and Steven Spielberg, p.g.a., HAMNET won the Audience Choice Award for Best Film at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

https://www.focusfeatures.com/hamnet

The St. Louis screening is Tuesday, December 2nd, at 7pm at the B&B Creve Coeur West Olive 10.

ENTER HERE FOR PASSES: http://focusfeaturesscreenings.com/dgFtR09683

Please arrive EARLY as seating is not guaranteed.

Rated PG 13.


Paul Mescal stars as William Shakespeare in director Chloé Zhao’s HAMNET, a Focus Features release.

Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

WICKED LITTLE LETTERS – Review

Olivia Colman as Edith Swan in ‘Wicked Little Letters’ Image: Parisa Taghizadeh. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

WICKED LITTLE LETTERS is one of those truth-stranger-than-fiction tales that remind us that people are weirder than we might think. Director Thea Sharrock opens her comedy/mystery tale with text informing us “more of this is true than you might think,” a comic mystery about on the sudden appearance of anonymous obscene letters sent to various residents of a quiet of early 1920s little British seaside town. The first victim is Edith Swan (Olivia Colman), prim and proper religious spinster who still lives with her parents, and who embodies the last-gasp of the Victorian era ideal of a quiet obedient woman against those uppity women demanding the vote. Suspicion quickly falls on Edith’s neighbor, a foul-mouthed new arrival from Ireland, Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), who has a daughter Nancy (Alisha Weir), and a live-in Black boyfriend Bill (Malachi Kirby), but who also frequents pubs, listens to jazz, and pretty much does and says what she likes.

While the male police force are only to happy to assume the foul-mouthed Irishwoman is behind the letters, the one woman on the police force,Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan), is more suspicious. For one thing, the letters using more educated language than one might expect from the plain-spoken Rose, and the fancy handwriting seems not to fit either. However, Moss’ doubts are dismissed by the sexist, dim-witted male police, and she is told to stick to her assigned duties, providing emotional support for female crime victims or witnesses.

WICKED LITTLE LETTERS is a comic romp in a 1920s little village where part of the fun is in its true-story basis and the early feminist tables-turning. We actually do hear several of the “wicked little letters” read aloud, and they are funny, quirky, and surprisingly more obscene little personal insults than you might expect, and of a nature we won’t repeat here. They get a laugh, at least the first few times we hear them, which is often enough to get a bit repetitive.

The biggest delight are Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley, who are deliciously funny in all their scenes together. Colman and Buckley play off each other brilliantly whenever these two characters encounter each other. Despite what you expect, the characters actually kind of like each other, and even started out as friends, when the lonely, religious Edith decides to befriend her new neighbor Rose, thinking to bring her into her church circle, but instead discovers the strong-willed Rose’s capacity for salty language and humor.

The cast is filled with other gems, including Emma Jones as Edith’s devout, meek and kindly mother, and her more overbearing, bullying father, played by Timothy Spall in a rare more negative role. Edith’s father rails against the suffragettes fight for the vote as if it is a personal insult to manhood and demands complete obedience from his daughter. Among the women joining the police officer in her investigation are a trio of the over-looked and off-beat, Mabel (Eileen Atkins), Kate (Lolly Adefope) and Ann (Joanna Scanlan).

The comedy is broad, all the men are dumb and all the women are smart, but it is a lot of fun to watch, especially any time Colman and Buckley share the screen. Anjana Vasan as “Woman Police Officer Moss” as she is always called, is good too, a real expert at eye-rolling, and the rest of the cast add their bits too. Solving the mystery is less the problem than gathering the proof, which the script by British writer/comedian Jonny Sweet milks for humorous switches and near-misses.

WICKED LITTLE LETTERS is just a romp of a comedy, based on a true story set in a time when gender roles were bending and new possibilities opening, and featuring hilarious performances, especially from Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley in hilarious verbal sparring matches.

WICKED LITTLE LETTERS opens Friday, Apr. 5, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

WOMEN TALKING – Review

(l-r) Rooney Mara stars as Ona, Claire Foy as Salome, Judith Ivey as Agata, Sheila McCarthy as Greta, Michelle McLeod as Mejal and Jessie Buckley as Mariche, in director Sarah Polley’s film WOMEN TALKING. An Orion Pictures Release. Photo credit: Michael Gibson. © 2022 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.

There is a lot of talk about WOMEN TALKING – awards talk. The title of this electrifying ensemble drama may suggest something tame but the fiery WOMEN TALKING is no polite, quiet chat but a deep, sarcastic, no-holds-barred, even funny, and thought-provoking discussion among a group of Mennonite women who are meeting secretly in a barn to talk about what to do after a series of brutal attacks on them.

Women in the colony have been waking up beaten, bloody and in pain, with no memory of what had happened. The men tell them they are being attacked by the devil, or maybe it is just “wild feminine imagination.” Until they catch an attacker – and discover it is men in their own colony who have been drugging and raping women in the night.

A brilliant ensemble cast is at the heart of this amazing drama, a cast that includes Frances McDormand, Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, and Judith Ivey, who fire-up director Sarah Polley’s screenplay. The screenplay is based on Miriam Toews’ novel, which in turn was based on real events that took place in a Mennonite community in Bolivia. Toews herself grew up in a Mennonite community, in Canada, which she left in her late teens, which gives her a deeper understanding of this community, But what transpires in this film goes well beyond this conservative religious community, offering a universal message on women’s rights and place in human society.

This is a fascinating, intelligent and engrossing drama, with deeply thought-provoking discussion among women with more widely differing opinions than we expect. They engage in the kind of electrifying conversation any thinking person would relish listening in on. The women in this restrictive male-dominated community may not have been taught to read or write, but they certainly have sharp brains and sharper tongues, which means this drama is filled with crackling, intelligent dialog. Their hard, practical lives incline them to plain speaking, and their voices get free rein away from men’s ears. Their sometimes-heated discussion includes a range of views, of fears and worries, and of practical matters, but also ranges into the profound, the spiritual, and the philosophical as they contemplate the changes they want for their future.

Waiting until the men have gone to town to bail out the attackers, who have been arrested, the women seize the little time they have to speak plainly and bluntly about what they are going to do. Only one man is present, the school teacher August (Ben Whishaw), an outsider whose mother was expelled from the colony for asking too many questions. August’s only reason for being there is to take the minutes, since the women can’t read or write. The women decide to take a vote on three choices: Do nothing and forgive the men, stay and fight for justice, or leave the colony.

But when the vote results in a tie between staying and fighting or leaving, the women face a ticking clock. They must decide before the men return.

When the vote narrows the women’s choices to two: staying and fighting for their rights or leaving the colony, a group of women directly involved in the attacks are chosen to decide which of the two choices it will be. As it happens, two families are represented. One is led by elder Agata (Judith Ivey), with her daughters Ona (Rooney Mara) and Salome (Claire Foy), and Neitje (Liv McNeil), a niece of Salome. The other is led by elder Greta (Sheila McCarthy), with her daughters Mariche (Jessie Buckley) and Mejal (Michelle McLeod), and Mariche’s daughter Autje (Kate Hallett). Frances McDormand’s character Scarface Janz is the elder of another family, represented the losing option of doing nothing. She and her daughter Anna (Kira Guloien) and granddaughter Helena (Shayla Brown) are included in the early part of the discussion. As an older woman with a widowed daughter and blind granddaughter, Scarface Janz feels the other choices are too a big a risk for her.

While there is violence behind the story, this is not a violent film. The attacks have already taken place before the women gather to talk, but the events are recapped briefly in an opening sequence (meaning one does not want to miss the film’s first few minutes). The attacks are alluded to in periodic flashbacks, but it is handled deftly without showing the violence, just shots with some blood in the aftermath.

The discussion is also not non-stop, broken up by both the flashbacks and glimpses of the world around them, particularly the children playing in the fields outside the barn. Breaks are taken, and there are private conversations. A wonderful score by Hildur Guonadottir also lightens the mood or deepens it. Breaks are taken, and there are private conversations. Cinematographer Luc Montpellier uses desaturated color, which gives that world an old-fashioned, sepia tone look, but one of great beauty as well.The film uses desaturated color, which gives that world an old-fashioned, sepia tone look, but one of great beauty as well. At one point, the outside world intrudes, when a census taker appears, in a comic and rather surreal bit.

Although the women are the main characters, there is one man present in the barn, August (Ben Whishaw) as the boys’ teacher, who is there only to write down what is said, since the women cannot read or write. August is considered an outsider but he is the son of a woman whose was expelled from that colony for asking too many questions. August returned after college, hired to be the colony’s teacher for the boys, but he also returned in part due to his feelings for Ona (Rooney Mara). August’s presence adds some balance to the perspective, representing a gentler kind of man and offering insights when asked about the future of their sons.

The ensemble cast presents a variety of viewpoints, and represent differing ages and concerns that influence those views. The two young girls who caught the attacker are adamant that the men cannot be forgiven, but they are also bored with all the talk, and play and prank as the discussion progresses. Some fear change, others fear their own rage. These deep discussions, often profound, always engrossing, and sometimes emotionally raw, range well beyond just these attacks and the concerns of this conservative religious community. But the discussions are sometimes punctuated with humor, and even with little petty conflicts.

The acting is superb throughout, in the ensemble scenes and more individual ones. Clarie Foy’s Salome and Jessie Buckley’s Mariche often face off, in fiery exchanges where both actresses shine, while the older women are often the peacemakers. Actually, the older actresses, Sheila McCarthy and Judith Ivey, are really the acting standouts, stealing scenes as McCarthy’s bird-like Greta teaches with fables about her two horses, while Ivey’s steady Agata often diffuse conflict by song or reminding the women to take a higher point-of-view.

WOMEN TALKING was inspired by real events, attacks that took place in a Mennonite community in South America, but the film is more universal. This striking drama debuted at the Toronto film festival, and since then, it has garnered both critical acclaim and awards, particularly for its sharp dialog and electrifying ensemble cast, along with strong Oscar buzz.

Don’t be put off by the title or the idea of women talking in a barn. There is plenty of emotional fire, wit, and intelligent discussion on women and society’s treatment of them, global topics for all to consider.

WOMEN TALKING opens Friday, Jan. 20, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

Win Passes To The St. Louis Advance Screening Of WOMEN TALKING

Screenwriter and director Sarah Polley’s latest feature film is WOMEN TALKING. Based on the best-selling novel by Miriam Toews, Women Talking follows a group of women in an isolated religious colony as they struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony’s men.

Starring Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Sheila McCarthy, with Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand, see WOMEN TALKING In Theaters Everywhere January 20.

Advance Screening is Wednesday, January 18, 7:00pm at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac.

The screening will be filled on a first come first served basis, so we encourage you to arrive early. Seats will not be guaranteed.

Enter at the link below.

SWEEPSTAKES LINK: http://uareleasingscreenings.com/main/sweepstakes/fcJLl89106
Winners will be selected and notified next Friday. 

PG-13 for mature thematic content including sexual assault, bloody images, and some strong language

Purchase your tickets for select theaters* today!

WT_02993_R4 (l-r.) Ben Whishaw stars as August, Rooney Mara as Ona and Claire Foy as Salome in director Sarah Polley’s film WOMEN TALKING An Orion Pictures Release Photo credit: Michael Gibson © 2022 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.

MEN – Review

(L-R) Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear in MEN. Courtesy of A24.

A woman alone in a secluded old house, who is being terrorized, is a standard of horror films but director/writer Alex Garland crafts a far different, mind-bending film from that familiar premise. In MEN, toxic masculinity and patriarchy play a major part in the horror.

Alex Garland, whose credits include the scripts for 28 DAYS LATER and SUNSHINE, is a visionary filmmaker who has previously used science fiction to delve into philosophy and a dark side of technology in EX MACHINA, a film that touched on the classic theme of the male creator controlling a female creation, with references to Frankenstein, Pygmalion and the mechanical doll of The Tales of Hoffman. Now Garland turns to the horror genre and, likewise, MEN is no ordinary horror film, although it plays with many of the familiar tropes and types of the genre. On one level, it is a feverish nightmare, an unforgettable, queasy experience, but on another it is a symbolic-laden exploration of patriarchy and toxic masculinity, along with references to ancient folk symbols and myths surrounding lust, sex, fertility and birth.

The film opens with a shocking sight, of a man falling past a window. The falling man is James (Paapa Essiedu), the husband Harper (Jessie Buckley) was in the process of divorcing despite his emotionally-manipulative threats of suicide, although we don’t know if what we see is an accident or a suicide. Seeking a place to heal and grieve, Harper rents a manor house near a tiny village in the quiet English countryside, to be alone and process what has happened.

The stately old house is beautiful and the landscape around it is lush, green and idyllic, the perfect spot. Strolling up to the front door, Harper plucks an apple from a tree in the front yard. The biblical reference is not subtle and as she takes a bite from it, we feel a momentary disquieting shift. She enters the old mansion and begins to explore, and normalcy seems to return with the arrival of the genial owner of the house, Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear), a slightly awkward but likable country aristocratic type. As Geoffrey shows her around the house, he asks slightly intrusive questions about her personal life, questions she deflects while implying she is divorced rather an widowed. When the owner spots the partly-eaten apple on the kitchen counter, his ever-present smile fades, followed by the words “forbidden fruit,” but he quickly adds that he is joking, as the smile returns. We feel he isn’t and, in fact, disturbing things quickly follow.

Harper decides to take a walk in the intensely green woods around the mansion, which leads her to an abandoned old railroad tunnel, where she lingers, playing with echos. That is until she spots a strange man, naked and scratched, at the other end, who then follows her back to the house. Although the police take him away, the incident starts a chain of disturbing events, as the film ratchets up the tension.

What unfolds is a surreal, head-spinning horror film experience steeped in myth and archetypes of masculinity while exploring aspects of the connections between men and women. Garland keeps the tension high throughout, as events become increasingly disturbing and nightmarish, heavily laden with symbolism, much of it drawn from folk traditions, particularly the ancient Green Man and mysterious sexual female image Sheela-na-gig.

The acting is superb, particularly Kinnear, as is the film’s masterful use of framing, the wildly lush sets and locations, and gorgeous photography, all suffusing a film of unrelenting tension. Some scenes, particularly the mind-bending climax, are disturbing to watch and graphic. although not in the usual horror film way.

After the encounter in the woods, Harper faces a series of increasingly unsettling encounters with men in the village, who demonstrate an array of sexist, patriarchal and toxic masculinity behaviors. They all share a version of the same face, including a malevolent 9-year-old boy. While the manor owner is merely awkward, others are more offensive, with a police officer who dismisses Harper’s fears, or even sinister, like the threatening boy and a vicar who seems at first to offer sympathy but quickly shifts to sexist critique.

The men in the village are all played by Rory Kinnear, with the aid of various prosthetics, wigs and false teeth and plenty of nudity. It is a brave, impressive multiple role performance by the lauded British actor, who crafts distinctly different characters for each role and endured some daunting physical challenges for them. Kinnear is famous in Britain for his stage work and as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company but he may be most familiar to movie audiences from his role in the Bond movies as Bill Tanner or supporting roles on TV shows like “Penny Dreadful” and many others.

Jessie Buckley, whose career is soaring, especially after her Oscar nomination for THE LOST DAUGHTER, is on screen nearly throughout the whole film. The film is a real acting tour-de-force by both Buckley and Kinnear, but while Buckley is excellent, this film may be a star-making turn for the gifted but lesser-known Rory Kinnear.

Although Harper is alone in this rural house, she frequently chats with her supportive friend Riley (Gayle Rankins) who sometimes offers to join her. Periodically, we see flashbacks to Harper’s troubled relationship with her late husband James, in a nice performance by Essiedu. Both sequences add to our understanding of Harper and the trauma she suffered, but her character is explored in less depth than might be expected.

Of course, as the title indicates, this film is about the men who surround and menace her, men who are symbolic, facets and archetypes rather than real individuals, representing aspects of masculinity and patriarchy. The film offers up both presentations of toxic masculinity and male privilege that have current day and recent historic reference, and ancient symbols of nature, sex, fertility and birth. But what exactly writer/director Garland is saying with all that is unclear, leaving it all to the interpretation of the viewer. The film is disturbing yet haunting, and puzzling, while it is also a polished, terrifying horror film.

MEN opens in theaters on Friday, May 20.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

THE LOST DAUGHTER – Review

OLIVIA COLMAN as LEDA, in THE LOST DAUGHTER. Photo credit: YANNIS DRAKOULIDIS/NETFLIX © 2021.

Olivia Colman gives a gripping, multi-layered performance as an enigmatic middle-aged woman, who seems haunted by her past, in the tense drama THE LOST DAUGHTER. THE LOST DAUGHTER is the directorial debut of Maggie Gyllenhaal, and her decision to cast Colman proves to be a brilliant one, as Colman’s remarkable performance makes the film.

Colman plays Leda, a literature professor who is vacationing alone at a seaside Greek resort. Early on, an awkward phone call with a daughter, who cuts her off abruptly, raises questions about how much of her solitary status is Leda’s own choice.

Ed Harris plays Lyle, the friendly caretaker of Leda’s vacation rental but her prickliness and brisk politeness suggest she is not interested in socializing. She tells people she encounters this is a working vacation, and takes her text books and notebook with her to the beach, settling into the deserted stretch with a satisfied smile. That smile and her calm are shattered by the arrival of a large, noisy family who seem to take over the space.

Colman’s Leda sends mixed signals throughout, of independence and neediness, of pleasantness and meanness. Her prickly demeanor re-emerges when the family intrudes on her solitude, and when one of the women in that large family asks her to move, so the group can all spread out their beach towels together, the professor bluntly refuses. They don’t take her lack of cooperation well, but back off with scowls and grumbling. Later a staff member at the resort Will (Paul Mescal) tells the professor that he admires her courage but warns her the family is “not nice” and she should be careful. Rather than being warned off, Leda now seems drawn to the family, skirting around clearly dangerous territory.

While this tense situation is evolving in the present, we see periodic flashbacks to the young Leda (Jessie Buckely). Ambitious and fighting establish herself as an academic, Leda is also struggling to cope with her two young daughters. Her husband Joe (Jack Farthing) is little help, and her older daughter is demanding and defiant, which Leda does not handle well. It is hardly a picture of domestic bliss and the stress is searing.

Meanwhile, at the beach resort, the young daughter of one of the younger women in the noisy family, Nina (Dakota Johnson), goes missing, triggering a frantic search. At first, the professor seems disinterested but then joins the search by going off to scour remote wooded spots near the beach, although perhaps she is just getting away from the chaos.

The missing girl triggers flashbacks to a young Leda hysterically searching in the surf for her own daughter, while holding the younger of the two. In the present, the daughter is found but now her beloved doll is missing, which launches a new search and a tense, evolving situation, laced with Leda’s complex feelings and her own past.

Director Gyllenhaal’s husband, Peter Sarsgaard, plays Professor Hardy in the flashbacks, an academic star who takes in interest in Leda’s work. The flashbacks and what happens in the present suggest Leda is haunted by unresolved guilt and complicated feelings about motherhood. Leda swings between grief and anger, and does things that leave us shocked and puzzled, unsure if we should pity her or despise her. The play of complex emotions is all over Colman’s exquisitely expressive face, but director Maggie Gyllenhaal gives away little, particularly about the full picture of Leda’s past. The director leaves the audience to wonder, and draw their own conclusions, both about what happened back then and in the film’s enigmatic conclusion.

That vagueness might leave viewers unsatisfied by the end but, regardless, Olivia Colman’s splendid performance is outstanding. Colman remains the major reason to see THE LOST DAUGHTER, given how murky the director leaves things, but it is so compelling a performance that it is worth the lingering questions with which it can leave viewers.

THE LOST DAUGHTER opens Friday, Dec. 17, in theaters and streaming on Netflix on Dec. 31.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

Gugu Mbatha-Raw And Keira Knightley Fight For Equality In Preview Of MISBEHAVIOUR

Check out the official trailer for MISBEHAVIOUR, the charmingly provocative true story, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“The Morning Show”) and Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice).

In Select Theaters and on VOD on September 25th.

Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe, MISBEHAVIOUR also stars Jessie Buckley, Keeley Hawes, Phyllis Logan, Lesley Manville, Rhys Ifans and Greg Kinnear.

In 1970, the Miss World competition took place in London, hosted by US comedy legend, Bob Hope. At the time, Miss World was the most-watched TV show on the planet with over 100 million viewers. Claiming that beauty competitions demeaned women, the newly formed Women’s Liberation Movement achieved overnight fame by invading the stage and disrupting the live broadcast of the competition. Not only that, when the show resumed, the result caused uproar: the winner was not the Swedish favourite but Miss Grenada, the first black woman to be crowned Miss World. In a matter of hours, a global audience had witnessed the patriarchy driven from the stage and the Western ideal of beauty turned on its head.

#Misbehaviour http://www.misbehaviourmovie.com/

DOLITTLE – Review

Only less than three weeks into the new year and there’s a new flick opening today celebrating the centennial of a much-beloved character of children’s literature. Yes, the medical man who could “talk to the animals” arrived on the printed page, with words and pictures by Hugh Lofting, way back in 1920. It would seem that such a fantastical creation would get scooped up by the fledgling cinema arts. And in 1928 he was the star of a silent animated short by the legendary Lotte Reiniger. Aside from an early thirties NBC radio show he stayed on the shelves of bookstores for over 30 years until the execs at Twentieth Century Fox, encouraged by the “boffo” box office numbers generated by MARY POPPINS and THE SOUND OF MUSIC, produced an epic “mega-musical” event. And though it earned two Oscars (for Best Song and Best Visual Effects) DOCTOR DOLITTLE almost bankrupted the studio. But it proved bountiful for George Lucas ten years later. Fox lost so much on DD’s merchandising “blitz’ that they agreed that he should retain those rights for his weird lil’ “space thing”. Flash ahead 30 years and Eddie Murphy takes the doc into the modern world for a series of family comedies lasting ten years (though he starred in only the first two, with the other three going straight to home video). Now the “doctor is in”… the original time period of the mid 19th century as he embarks on an adventure fantasy (though no giant snails or two-headed llamas this time) comedy in the flick simply titled DOLITTLE.

A whimsical animated prologue gets us up to speed on the current state of the good doctor. Yes, he worked on humans until he was given the gift of communicating with all members of the animal kingdom. Speaking of royalty, Queen Victoria gives him the land which becomes his (and his animal pals) sanctuary. Eventually, Dolittle takes on a medical partner, Lilly, who becomes his wife. But she has an appetite for exploration and embarks on a voyage while he stays behind to tend to their “friends”. When she is lost at sea, Dolittle becomes a hermit, shielding himself from humanity within the gates of the wildlife sanctuary. That all changes when a young lad named Stubbins (Harry Collett) gets in, with the help of a parrot named Polly (voiced by Emma Thompson), and seeks medical aid for a squirrel he has accidentally wounded. Oh, and another pre-teen joins him, a member of the royal family, Lady Rose (Carmel Laniado), to ask for the doctor’s help. The very shagged haired reclusive Dolittle (Robert Downey, Jr.) wants to be left alone. But as he tends to the squirrel, Rose tells him that the Queen is in a coma and reminds him that if she succumbs, Dolittle will lose his land. After a quick clean-up, the group reports to the castle where he examines Victoria (Jessie Buckley), despite the protests of her personal physician (and Dolittle rival) Dr. Mudfly (Michael Sheen). The prognosis is quick, the only cure comes from a plant on a faraway island. With Stubbins and the “menagerie” as crew, Dolittle sets sail in an old vessel. Ah but Mudfly secretly follows in a battleship, for it seems that his co-conspirator Lord Badgley (Jim Broadbent) lusts after the throne. Will they scuttle Dolittle’s quest before he can find the antidote and save his (and the animals’) home?

In his first big movie after finishing his stint in the “Marvel movie universe” (sorry, if that’s a spoiler but it’s been nine months now), Downey appears to be establishing a new franchise that can start with fans a bit younger than those of his armored avenger. That’s a bit doubtful. As with that last role, he gets to be a mentor (here with Stubbins instead of Spidey) and relies more on brains than brawn (his animals pals have the muscle). Plus he gets to use more of the physical slapstick training from his CHAPLIN days (over 25 years now…really) as he flits around his study and sailing ship. The big setback here is verbal as he adopts a Scottish accent that is often hard to decipher is it tends to drift quietly away towards the end of the dialogue. Actually it looks like all of his lines were “post dubbed” which adds another disconnect to the often too “cutesy-quirky” doc/vet. Collett is an energetic bright-eyed apprentice who helps ground Dr. D. Unfortunately Sheen’s considerable talents are squandered as a campy buffoonish villain who’s always teetering on the verge of hysteria (maybe some decaf tea would help). Another adversary to the good doctor is Antonio Banderas who grumbles and growls as the ill-tempered king of the pirates, ruling a faraway island. His low-pitched line readings seem more suitable for one of the critters. As for the “guest voices” of the said animals, the comic actors fare best. Especially Kumail Nanjiana as Plimpton the ostrich (hey his vocal work as a lil’ CGI alien in MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL was the highlight of that dud), and Jason Mantzoukas as the hyper dragonfly James. The biggest waste of talent here is casting the wonderful Ms. Buckley (superb as last year’s WILD ROSE) as the dozing Victoria. Well, at least she was spared much of the stilted script as she awaited her cure.

The more surprising part of this ill-conceived project is its director, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of TRAFFIC Stephen Gaghan. Perhaps a lighter touch was needed, though the script, credited to him and three(!) other scribes careens and bounces around nearly as much as the CGI critters, who as least look consistently better than their JUMANJI brethren. It all feels a tad disjointed as if the first two episodes of a streaming TV kid’s show were stitched together (“Dolittle Meets Two New Human Friends” and “Dolittle at Sea”), particularly when it shifts to Indy Jones Jr. mode on the magical island. That leads to the awkward inclusion of that fantasy flick staple: a fire-breathing dragon, though it’s ferocity and ailments are softened for the kiddos’. Ah, but to avoid a dread “G” rating there are plenty of “gross-out” body function gags (indeed) and anachronisms (references to the pop culture of the next century or so). As often is the case many adults may be forgiving of this flick as it is intended for the “kinder crowd”, but the artists at Pixar, Disney Animation, and others never set the bar so low as they make entertainment that’s truly for all ages. What we’re left with here is some great costumes and art direction hidden by lots of computer-generated noisy (the animals talk so much we wish they’d pipe down for a bit) chaos. DOLITTLE does little more than kill time at a weekend at the multiplex.

1 Out of 5

JUDY – Review

Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland in JUDY. Photo credit: David-Hindley. Courtesy of LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions.

Renee Zellweger gives a knockout performance as the legendary Judy Garland, in a biopic set in her later years. as the star struggles to make a living, battles alcoholism and self-destructive behavior and tries to keep her two young children close. JUDY takes a sympathetic view of the star in her twilight years, a difficult time when she was still famous enough to draw crowds but when her voice was fading and her reputation for unreliability made it hard to find work.

Renee Zellweger’s turn as Judy Garland is the film’s major asset. The film, which is based on the play “End of the Rainbow” by Peter Quilty, is directed by Rupert Goold. Zellweger’s outstanding performance captures Judy Garland’s personal charm, warmth and vulnerability, the things that drew fans to her along with her golden voice. JUDY is a film for Judy Garland fans, although it has plenty to offer those less familiar with the legendary star, so it takes a sympathetic view of the star but one willing to be honest about her flaws. Few stars of the Hollywood Golden Age have endured as legends in the minds of fans like Judy Garland. Garland’s personal story reads like a Hollywood movie itself – a childhood in vaudeville, the sudden fame brought by her great talent and warm screen presence in THE WIZARD OF OZ, and her tragic decline. All it lacked was the Hollywood ending.

JUDY touches on all that but takes a more intimate approach, focusing only on the star in her final years, with a few flashbacks to her time as a teenager at the MGM studio filming THE WIZARD OF OZ. But like the excellent biopic about Laurel and Hardy, STAN AND OLLIE, JUDY does not cover Garland’s whole life and career, instead focuses on the poignant, tragic end, while evoking the height of t her stardom in flashbacks. In this case, the flashbacks especially serve as a device to give insights on the subject herself.

Mostly, the film focuses on Garland as a devoted mother, struggling to support and care for the children she clearly loves, while battling her own insecurities and dependence on alcohol and a mix of amphetamines and sleeping pills, a legacy of her movie studio childhood. It is a heart-tugging portrait of maternal love, made all the more poignant by the fact that it is the great Judy Garland in this struggle.

As the film opens, Garland (Zellweger) is on stage performing for a crowd, with her two young children, Lorna (Bella Ramsey) and Joey (Lewin Lloyd), joining her from the wings for a final bow. The meager pay she is given after the show tips us off that Dorothy is a long way from Kansas at this grim point in her career. While she is still famous and able to draw crowds, producers have become leery of hiring her and film offers have dried up, due to her reputation for unreliability and being difficult. Clearly, what is keeping her going is her devotion to her children, with whom she is close. As much as she loves them and tries to make their childhoods fun while masking her financial distress, it is impossible. Forced to leave them with ex-husband Sid Luft (Rufus Sewell), Judy takes a job in London, playing an exclusive club called Talk of the Town.

In London, she is treated like a star once again and plays to sell-out crowds, but it is clear her demons still haunt her, particularly alcohol and insecurity. The club’s owner Bernard Delfont (Michael Gambon) has assigned a minder/assistant, Rosalyn (Jessie Buckley), to keep an eye on the star and make sure she gets on stage on time.

Garland has her troubles with that, but things start to look up, offering a ray of hope for her to restart her life and hold on to her children, her biggest priority. The young woman assigned as her minder/assistant, played winningly by the talented Jessie Buckley, also becomes a friend. There is also a touch of romance, with her budding relationship with a young producer, Mickey Deans (a charming Finn Wittrock), who would become her fifth husband. Judy met Deans at a party at the home of her older daughter Liza Minnelli’s (Gemma-Leah Devereux) shortly before she left, and she is charmed when he turns up in London.

The film is based on Garland’s actual life but this is not a documentary and some dramatic license has been taken. The bulk of the film takes place in London, during Garland’s several week run at the popular Talk of the Town nightclub. This gives the film plenty of performance sequences to help evoke her magic as a singer and star.

While JUDY takes a sympathetic approach to Garland, it does shy away from her self-destructive ways. Still it does offer some explanation for Garland’s addictions and insecurities through flashbacks to Judy’s earlier years at MGM, during the filming of THE WIZARD OF OZ. Darci Shaw plays the young Judy, bullied by the studio about her weight and her looks. The teenagers put on an endless round of pills, some to help her lose weight or pep her up to keep up her grueling film and publicity schedule, and others to help her sleep. These flashbacks are sprinkled throughout the film, and the ones with studio head Louis B. Mayer (a creepy Richard Cordery) are particularly chilling, as he browbeats the teenager about her background as a vaudeville performer from the Midwest. He offers her a choice: do everything he asks and become a star, or choose to be a normal teenager but live out life in obscurity. The fear he instills continues to haunt the grown Judy.

Although Zellweger has little actual resemblance to Garland, she is transformed by excellent make up and her stunning performance, creating so convincing an impersonation that one feels like you are watching Judy Garland herself. Zellweger is superb, capturing Garland’s mannerism, tone of voice and pattern of speech, and movements with uncanny accuracy. In the dramatic sequences, her portrayal grabs at our heartstrings and threatens to tear our hearts out at times, so moving is this tale of a great star brought down by times and her own weaknesses. But the film is filled with moments of joy and triumph over those difficulties, as well as warm human connections, where Garland’s charm and appeal. Among these moments is a sequence with a couple of gay fans she meets by chance after a show, a warm interlude that connects her directly with a fan base who has long embraced her.

The stage show sequences are marvelous, with Zellweger channeling Garland to an amazing degree. Zellweger has sung in films before and does her own singing here. However, if there is a shortcoming it is that as nice as Zellweger’s voice is, she does not particularly sound like Garland even if she looks like her. One might wish the film had used Garland’s own distinctive voice. Even though her voice was fading at the time the film takes place, it still had a unique sound. The troubled star’s devotion to her children is one of the film’s most touching aspects, and one of ways this flawed star wins our hearts. Zellweger effectively conveys all Garland’s complicated layers, while also underlining the fickle nature of fame and a toxic system that chews up talent. Zellweger herself has had some rough treatment by media and the public, which might add a little depth to her performance.

JUDY is a film for Judy Garland fans, with a moving portrait of Judy Garland in her twilight, with all the heartbreak that entails, and a remarkable channeling of the legend by Renee Zellweger. It is not a perfect film but one that delivers for those fans. JUDY opens Friday, September 27.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars