Tag: re-make

DOWNHILL – Review

Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the film DOWNHILL. Photo by Jaap Buitendijk. © 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell star as a married couple who have their relationship shaken after near-miss with an avalanche while on a family ski vacation, in the dark comedy/drama DOWNHILL. Nat Faxon and Jim Rash co-direct this American re-make of 2014 FORCE MAJEURE, Swedish director Ruben Ostlund’s biting comedy about how a man’s reaction to danger undermines his relationship with his wife and children. The term “force majeure” means an irresistible compulsion, like the man’s self-preservation response.

Ruben Ostlund’s dark comedy was sharply funny as well as thought-provoking. Like most English-language re-makes of international hits, DOWNHILL is a paler version. Still, DOWNHILL has its moments, comic and otherwise, largely thanks to the fine work of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell. Their comic chemistry and separate work are the major reasons to see this film.

Americans Pete (Will Ferrell), a real estate dealer, and his lawyer wife Billie (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and their two teen-aged sons are on a long-awaited ski vacation at a luxury Austrian resort. That things might go a bit wrong are foreshadowed by the fact that they do not see any other children at the adult-focused resort, unlike the family-oriented one down the road. A strange, intrusive, and sexy hotel employee (Miranda Otto) adds to the slight unease yet the family quickly settles in and get out on the slopes.

But the happy family is unsettled by an incident that happens shortly after they sit down for lunch at an outside restaurant. A controlled avalanche comes shockingly close, sending the customers fleeing in fear of their lives. Although they are only dusted lightly with snow instead of buried under it, the result is devastating for the family as Billie discovers her husband bolted, leaving her to shelter their children on her own. To make matters worst, Pete acts like nothing happened, failing even to acknowledge what he just did.

While DOWNHILL follows the general plot outline of the original film, there are significant differences in both story and tone. The kids in the original are younger, a girl and a boy, while in the remake they are a pair of teen-aged boys, Finn (Julian Grey) and Emerson (Ammon Ford), who are happier with screen-time than skiing with the parents, which shifts the family dynamic. Rather than sharply focusing on the questions raised about his fundamental nature and his relationships with his wife and children, DOWNHILL dilutes that focus with other topics, such as mid-life crisis and grieving for a recent loss of his father. The second couple who are good friends in the original become a younger work acquaintance (played by Zach Woods) and his free-spirited new girlfriend (Zoe Chao), who are a less-welcome intrusion on the family vacation. Kristofer Hivju, the bearded redhead that audiences may recognize from “Game of Thrones,” played the friend in the original and appears briefly in DOWNHILL as a man in charge of avalanche-control for the ski resort, in one of the funnier scenes.

Watching DOWNHILL without seeing the original film might make one wonder why someone would re-make this story, as it seems much like any number of mildly entertaining family dramedies. However, those who did see FORCE MAJEURE will be left disappointed, as this re-make falls far short despite the determined efforts of the cast to add a little spark.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

DUMBO – Review

A scene from Disney’s live-action DUMBO. Courtesy of Disney Enterprises

Anticipation was high for Disney’s live-action remake of its classic animated film DUMBO, particularly when Tim Burton was tapped to direct. Burton’s films often look they take place in a magical, circus-like fantasy world, so it seemed like a sure thing for DUMBO. But while the new DUMBO soars visually, with all the color and magical fantasy hoped for, the re-make of the tale of the little circus elephant that flies falls flat, due to a muddled, wandering script that loses the charm of the original in the sawdust.

By far, the best thing about the new DUMBO is how it looks. DUMBO is visually delightful, as Tim Burton creates a gorgeous, color-drenched, magical circus world with a touch of steam punk. But the director’s good work is undermined by its rambling, dull script by Ehren Kruger, which shifts the focus from the little elephant to a story about the circus and a circus family. Small children and some grown-up die-hard Disney fans might enjoy the live-action DUMBO, but others will be disappointed, as it just does not compare well to the original.

Disney’s classic animated film DUMBO charmed children and parents alike with its tale of a little elephant overcoming bullying and discovering his own hidden talent, with the help of his loving mother and an encouraging circus mouse friend named Timothy The focus of that sweet story is on the mother-child relationship and the young elephant’s discovery of his own special talent, with the help of his mouse friend.

In this live-action version, the CGI animals don’t talk. While both the mother elephant and a circus mouse are still present, the job of encouraging the little elephant falls to two kids, the children of the little circus’ one-time star attraction. However, the change does not work very well and the film does not make much of an effort with it anyway, as the focus is shifted to the adults in the story, particularly the kids’ father and the owner of the struggling little circus. The baby elephant with giant ears who can fly becomes more a supporting character. Not what fans envisioned.

This story is set in 1919, with brother and sister circus kids, Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins), eagerly wait for their father Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) to return from serving in World War I. Before the war, the kids’ parents had been the stars of the little Medici Brothers circus with a daring bareback riding act. The tight-knit community of performers in the aging little Medici Brothers Circus cared for the kids after their mother died in the 1918 flu epidemic but they hope for better times when dad returns, However, when dad steps off the train, the kids get a new shock when they see he has lost his right arm in the war. The circus’ owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) is struggling to keep the rundown little circus afloat and it is not clear what a one-armed horse trainer is going to do, but the impresario will figure something out. Having lost his star attraction, the circus owner invests in a new big draw, an enormous elephant named Jumbo. Better yet, she’s pregnant so the circus is getting a two-fer. When the baby elephant is born, it has freakishly large ears, and the impresario thinks his dreams of sold-out shows are over.

When some of the crew mistreat both elephants, the kids and Holt intervene, and the kids bond with the little elephant, particularly after mom Jumbo is sold. Both the big-eared baby elephant and Holt wind up in the clown act where the little guy gets nicknamed Dumbo. A tickling feather reveals Dumbo’s hidden talent: he can use his enormous ears to fly. The flying elephant draws the attention of V. A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), a millionaire owner of a big, flashy amusement park, who tells the owner of the little circus he wants to help, although we all know there will be a price for that. Vandevere has a plan to star the flying elephant with his French aerialist Colette Marchant (Eva Green). Alan Arkin plays Vandevere investor J. Griffin Remington.

The CGI is wonderful and the scenes of the flying elephant are breathtaking but Dumbo is more a supporting character while the family take the center spot. Unfortunately, the emotional connection between mom and baby elephant is muted, and the kids don’t create the same emotional connection with the elephant as Timothy Mouse did. In fact, the scenes with the kids and the elephant feel flat and forced. The kids’ parts are underdeveloped, with the the girl’s interest in science feeling tacked on and her younger brother is little more than a shadow. The adult actors are the real story focus.

Danny DeVito does his crusty character best as the owner of the little circus, as he falls under the spell of the charming but manipulative wealthy amusement park owner, played with style by Michael Keaton. Colin Farrell does his best to tug at hearts as the always-optimistic Holt, and there is a romance subplot with Eva Green’s French aerialist, who is paired with Dumbo for a Dreamland show.

Visually, DUMBO is a dream. Tim Burton works his magic completely, creating a gorgeous fantasy circus world, both the fading vintage charm of the Medici Brothers Circus and the big, eye-popping extravagance of the millionaire’s Dreamland. While the Medici circus is all sawdust old-fashioned warmth and cotton-candy brightness, darker shades emerge in the coolly-gleaming polish of the big, flashy Dreamland, which has a steam punk vibe.

Audiences may note that amusement park Dreamland has an eerie resemblance to Disneyland, right down to a hall of science that echoes Tomorrowland. It is one of the film’s most intrigue aspects, and given that this is a Disney film, the subtext is curious. Tim Burton reportedly has a fraught history with the company, and when the D falls off the amusement park’s entrance sign, the message seems clear. Maybe the company, fresh off its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, decided to just let this one go.

DUMBO is a very pretty film but a pretty slow, rambling one. The story is a mess, without the sweetness and appeal of the original. While little kids will likely still enjoy it, it might be more of a slog for parents, particularly disappointing if they are grown-up fans of the original.

DUMBO opens Friday, March 29, at multiple theaters.

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars

GLORIA BELL – Review

Julianne Moore as Gloria in Sebastian Lelio’s GLORIA BELL. Courtesy of A24 Films.

Julianne Moore stars in GLORIA BELL, Oscar-winning Chilean writer/director Sebastian Lelio’s English-language remake of his romance/comedy/drama about a free-spirited middle-aged woman, GLORIA. Lelio’s 2017 A FANTASTIC WOMAN, about a transgender woman, won an Oscar and Lelio followed that up with DISOBEDIENCE, starring Rachel Weisz as a gay woman in an ultra-conservative Jewish community. Lelio also won praise and some international attention for his 2013 film GLORIA, which focused on another kind of character rarely put at the center of movie plots, a middle-aged woman.

Julianne Moore shines gloriously in GLORIA BELL, as the irrepressible Gloria, a long-divorced kind-hearted woman who loves to dance who is ever hopeful about finding love. While Moore is wonderful, the film itself is not as charming or involving as the original. Rather than feeling like Gloria is starting a new chapter of her life by the story’s end, it feels more like she makes a complete circle back to the same place.

Moore’s Gloria is a happy, free-spirited woman who does kind things for those in her life yet she seems a bit lonely and on her own. She has a good relationship with her grown children, Anne (Caren Pistorius) and Peter (Michael Cera), but they have their own lives. Gloria is at a low-point in her life as the film opens, with difficulties at work under her demanding boss, and her long-time co-worker friend (the wonderful German actress Barbara Sukowa) seems to be just hanging on. Long divorced, Gloria loves to go dancing, which she frequently does and seems to be a kind of escape from her worries. But while she dates, she has not found love. When she meets a new man named Arnold (John Turturro), it opens the door to romance and the possibility of a new chapter in her life.

Moore is undeniably cute singing along to the pop hits of her youth in her car, slightly off-key of course. She gains our admiration by the way she stands by her friends and wins our sympathy as she tries to connect with and help her grown children, who seem to love her but tolerate her rather than need her. She seems to give more than she receives, which touches our hearts.

Writer/director Sebastian Lelio mixes romance, comedy and drama into this character study, which has been re-set in Los Angeles. Moore glows as Gloria, and is supported by a good cast. While the film deserves credit simply for being such a warm portrait of a middle-aged woman and it is certainly lifted by Moore’s presence, the film itself is only modestly entertaining. It is not a bad movie, just a disappointing, mildly-frustrating one. Even though this re-make is by the original writer/director, it suffers from a common problem of remakes of a good film – that it is hard to recreate the magic a second time.

GLORIA BELL is filled with ’70s music to match the main character’s era, and Gloria’s favorite club is a ’70s throwback disco. The ’70s theme is so strong that we are some minutes into the film before it becomes clear that the story takes place in the present and not that decade. It is a clever way to suggest Gloria might be stuck in the past.

GLORIA BELL is best when it just focuses on Julianne Moore, who just glows with vibrant life, in her personal interactions with her children and friends. These scenes have an appealing naturalness, and the strong cast helps here. Gloria is a warm, kind-hearted person who is always taking care of others but has no one who takes care of her. Meeting Arnold seems to open the door that possibility but Arnold comes with his own baggage.

The problem is the story, which never seems to go much of anywhere. Sure, there is the evolving relationship with Arnold, which has is ups and downs, and there are are changes changes in her children’s lives that impact her, which Gloria rocks her emotionally. She has to cope with what is happening at work and her drunken ex-husband, with whom she is friendly. She weathers it all with resilience and grace, but we don’t feel like she is changed by her experiences. Instead, we feel like she makes a circle back to where she was. It makes the film less involving and less satisfying than the original, despite Moore’s luminous performance.

If one is a big Julianne Moore fan, the film offers some enjoyment, with plenty of lovely close-ups and lovely moments with the actress playing a charming joy-filled character despite her modest life. Her performance and the loving close-ups may be enough for some viewers. But for the rest of us, we want to see Gloria breakout of her confining life, and find a little more of the personal happiness she clearly deserves.

GLORIA BELL opens Friday, March 22, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema, the Hi-Pointe Theater and the Chase Park Plaza Cinema.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars