Tag: True Story

DEAD MAN’S WIRE – Review

Dacre Montgomery as Richard and Bill Skarsgard as Tony, in Gus Van Sant’s DEAD MAN’S WIRE. Courtesy of Row K Entertainment

It has been seven years since we saw a film from Gus Van Sant but the director comes back strong with DEAD MAN’S WIRE, an impressive crime thriller/drama based on a bizarre real hostage incident in late 1970s Indianapolis. In 1977, an aspiring businessman, Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgard), who felt cheated by his mortgage lender, took the company’s manager hostage, by attaching a shotgun to his neck with a looped wire, while the gun’s trigger was wired to the kidnapper’s body, so that if a sniper killed the kidnapper, the hostage would die too. The method has since called a dead man’s wire. Gus Van Sant uses this real event to craft a tense, thriller film, laced with a dark humor that built on the absurdity of the situation, but also human drama that touches on issues of despair and desperation, economic unfairness, and shady business dealings. DEAD MAN’S WIRE is a technically impressive film as well as working as both a gripping entertainment thriller and commentary on slanted economic system.

Much of this crazy real event was captured on film by news camera, which was shot continuously during the 63 hour standoff with the kidnapper. The engrossing historic thriller is given an authenticity by director Gus Van Sant who captures the feel of 1977, by carefully reproducing the 1970s styles and visual aesthetics of the time period, and most strikingly by recreating the look of TV news and shows of the era, in this film. The visuals so closely match the actual archival footage of the real event, snippets of which Van Sant inserts into his film. The event took place during a transitional moment in how news is covered, and the event is still taught in schools of journalism as an example of news reporting crossing a line to escalate a situation. It adds an eerie level to this already atmospheric, darkly comic thriller/drama.

The film does not condone the kidnapper’s actions but Bill Skarsgard’s masterful performance gives us insights on someone driven to the edge, after being taken advantage of by his unscrupulous, wealthy lender. Austin Kolodney’s script speaks to “Everyman” issues of economic inequality and an unfair system skewed to favor the already rich, a topic that particularly resonates today. There are echoes of DOG DAY AFTERNOON in this film, as well as other “little guy” against the system tales, of someone driven over the edge by circumstances. While DEAD MAN’S WIRE is based on a true story, the drama/thriller goes in unexpected directions, and leans into its dark, absurdist humor at times.

Bill Skarsgard gives a striking performance as the odd, even unbalanced Tony Kiritsis, a would-be real estate entrepreneur who relishes the spotlight, which is part of why this film is so involving.

Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgard) has reached a desperate state with a mortgage he took out from local lender Meridian Mortgage. The mortgage was not for a home, but a business investment in real estate, property Tony Kiritsis hopes to develop as the location for a shopping mall. Tony had lined up plenty of would-be business tenants but he is puzzled as they fade away and he has trouble securing businesses to lease space. Without those funds, he falls behind on payments, and Tony has grown increasingly frustrated in trying to deal with his lender. When Meridian Mortage’s owner M. L. Hall (Al Pacino) offers to buy the property – for far less than Tony paid – Tony begins to suspect it is his own lender who is re-directing would-be leasers to other sites, sabotaging Tony’s business plan.

Tony’s anger and desperation leads to his plan with the dead man’s wire. The original target was Meridian’s M. L. Hall but instead, Tony ends up taking Hall’s son Richard, who also works for Meridian, hostage. Since this is based on a real event, that is not much of a spoiler, as the real big question is what happens next.

The police are alerted and are almost immediately on the scene, but there is little they can do, with Tony’s “dead man’s wire” shotgun apparatus pointed at Richard Hall’s head and the trigger wired to be pulled if Tony falls. Shooting Tony means killing his hostage too. Hence, Tony is able to take Richard to his apartment unimpeded, where he holds him for several days.

Meanwhile, ambitious young Black TV journalist Linda Page (Myha’la), who happens upon the scene, recruits her cameraman and starts filming the events, despite her boss’ efforts to hand off the assignment to a more experienced (and white, male) reporter. Events unfold that also involve at popular radio DJ, Fred Temple (Colman Domingo) known for his philosophical, Everyman musings on the radio. Tony Kiritsis is a fan, and the police try to use the DJ as a way to reach the kidnapper. Cary Elwes plays plainclothes detective Mike Grable, who was first on the scene, and who tries to be a calming figure to establish rapport with the kidnapper.

This bizarre crime and ensuing police standoff takes on a media circus-like air out in the Midwestern city streets, but the film also spends a lot of time inside Tony’s apartment, with just Tony and Richard, who goes by Dick. Holed up in Tony’s apartment, we get to know both oddball Tony and buttoned-down Richard. Dick is very much under the thumb of his wealthy father. M.L. knew Tony was on the edge, yet M. L. deliberately leaves his son to deal with the loaded situation, while M. L. heads out of town, becoming unavailable for any face-to-face. In truth, Richard is as much exploited by his father M. L. as his client Tony is.

As the hostage situation goes on, a kind of cat-and-mouse relationship evolves between the two men, with the more outgoing Tony even becoming rather friendly towards Richard, in a bit of reverse Stockholm Syndrome. But whether that does Richard any good is another matter. Eventually, Tony issues his demands, which include an apology from M. L. Hall personally.

Skarsgard’s outstanding performance is supported well by the rest of the cast, including particularly Dacre Montgomery, who plays the kidnapped banker Richard Hall. All the cast are good, with Colman Domingo another strong character as the DJ drawn into the situation. The wealthy M.L. Hall is played as distracted and distant by Al Pacino, in a strong performance, and there also is a little parallel to the real-life kidnapping of millionaire J. P. Getty’s grandson here, as negotiations begin.

That shotgun wired to hostage Richard’s neck ensures tensions are constantly high, but the quirkiness of the people involved, the unpredictability of both their nature, and the situation, make this a film where you never know what will happen next. None of this goes like the typical movie hostage situation. No character feels that strangeness more keenly that Coleman Domingo’s radio DJ, recruited as a sort of hostage negotiator, a role he’d rather not play. The ambitions of the young reporter, the determination of the cops, led by Cary Elwes’ Mike Grable, to find a way out, and the pressure on everyone of being on camera and in the public eye constantly adds fuel to the incendiary situation. And remember these are real people and real events, something that Van Sant reminds the audience about by inserting actual footage of the real events.

While some may see the film as anti-capitalist, that is not quite an accurate description, as the “common man” at its center is also a businessman, even if he is not too successful. Instead, DEAD MAN’S WIRE, in part, is more commentary on the warping of the American Dream and the old American free enterprise system, an aspirational ideal in a post-WWII world marked by the Marshall Plan, but which came to a crashing end in the “greed is good” 1980s. The old free enterprise system promised a level playing field for even small businesses to compete fairly, and succeed through hard work and good ideas, rather than through a “thumb on the scale” and unscrupulous, deceitful practices. Kiritsis’ his lack of success is not due, per se, to lack of skill in business, but by the tilted playing field upon which he treads, ironically being skewed by his own lender, who in a more ethical world be his ally. Instead, his banker is concealing that his thumb is on the scale, and has plans to turn his client’s misery to his advantage. The film’s themes are less anti-capitalist than anti-unscrupulous, a condemnation of predatory business practices, contrasting human dealings versus dehumanized practices, the latter style one which Al Pacino’s morality-free character represents well.

Gus Van Sant’s DEAD MAN’S WIRE is highly entertaining as a crime thriller, as well as a technically impressive film, and enhanced by first rate performances particularly by Bill Skarsgard in what may be a career best, as well as working as historical drama and commentary on a slanted economic system.

DEAD MAN’S WIRE opens in theaters on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

“The Hunt” – TV miniseries review

A scene from the Dutch TV crime series “The Hunt.” Courtesy of ViaPlay

The Dutch miniseries “The Hunt” (originally “Een van ons”) is supposedly based on a sordid real-life murder than garnered national attention in 1999, and for years afterward. In a small northern village, Anneke (Richelle Plantinga), a popular teen girl, was raped and murdered while cycling home from a local night club. No one knew who did it but there was enough anti-immigrant sentiment to make newly-arrived Afghanis, living in a Community Center for integration into their community, the prime suspects. That possible scapegoating was motivating emotionally, even if not logistically, for the many of the residents.

The story is largely presented by classmate Fenna (Eefje Paddenburg), whose main connection to Anneke was having the hots for the lass’s boyfriend, Jeroen (Gijs Blom), with whom Anneke quarreled just before she pedaled off to her fate. The scripts bounce among several time periods – 1999, 2001, 2009 and 2012 – from crime to solution in six hour-long episodes. We also meet a whole bunch of the family and neighbors, dwelling on the perspectives and consequences for each at some point, and giving airtime to a wide range of conflicts within and among them. The tone is that of a suspense drama, with little levity or overt action. The plot moves slowly, requiring patience as much as empathy or curiosity from viewers.

The triggering incident itself was quite disturbing. But the worst part about watching this course of events is its relevance to our present. The xenophobia and fascistic fervor of some split the town down the middle on mob rule versus due process. It’s as much a cautionary tale as a crime drama. Anneke’s family and friends were naturally angered by the loss, and frustrated by years of failure to nail the perpetrator, who most likely was living among them for the whole time, either in the village or at the Center. Some feared the Afghanis; others relied on them as a vital part of the area’s economy.

A deep cast contributes well to establishing an array of sympathetic and/or despicable players – many with elements of both. Attitudes and changes over time for many of them seem realistic, and not simplified for the medium. As has often been the case while reviewing imported TV series, the package felt longer than needed. Trimming the content to four episodes would have made a more compelling experience. The first three are particularly long on exposition and short on plot advancement. Fortunately, the latter half provides more excitement along the path to resolution, including an uptick in physical actions, and a few dollops of sexual activity. Enough to make it a series worth considering for a binge.

“The Hunt,” mostly in Dutch with English subtitles, streams on ViaPlay starting Mar. 27, 2025.

RATING: 2.4 out of 4 stars

I’M STILL HERE – Review

Fernanda Torres as Eunice Paiva in the Brazilian historical drama I’M STILL HERE. Photo by Adrian Teijido. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

The Oscar-nominated, true story-based I’M STILL HERE opens with an idyllic family scene, as mom swims in the ocean, her children play volleyball on the beach. She looks up as a dark helicopter flies overhead, briefly puzzled, before turning her attention back to the water, the beach and her family. Her youngest, a boy, has found a puppy and crosses the street from the beach to their comfortable home. The helicopter is forgotten. But this is Brazil in 1971 and a military dictatorship is in charge of the country, and the military helicopter foreshadows what is to come.

I’M STILL HERE stars Brazilian great Fernanda Torres as Eunice Paiva, mother of five and wife of Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), a former congressman turned architect, in an adaptation of Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s biographical book about his family’s experience in under the brutal dictatorship. The film shows the transition from quiet ordinary life to a time of government violence and terror, from the view of one family, during the time when countless people were “disappeared” by the dictatorship.

Fernanda Torres gives a riveting performance as Eunice Paiva, as she is transformed by events when the family is suddenly upended after becoming a government target, a role taking the character from her forties, to her sixties, to late in her life in her 80s.

It is easy to see parallels with our present in the way normal life is slowly transformed under authoritarian government. I’M STILL HERE is one of two Oscar-nominated international films about families under violent authoritarian rule, the other being SEED OF THE SACRED FIG. I’M STILL HERE is set in the past, about one specific family in Brazil under a infamous dictatorship from which it eventually emerged, while SEED OF THE SACRED FIG is a contemporary story of an Iranian family who is a composite inspired by recent events about a family of a government official under extreme internal and external pressures. Both films are excellent dramatic films but audiences might see more parallels with the present here in the historical I’M STILL HERE, and also feel a sense of closure and reassurance in that the country emerged from that period, while things are less hopeful in Iran, which is little changed after the brief uprising against restrictions on women depicted in that film. A drama in which a country ultimately recovers from dictatorship is more reassuring to watch.

I’M STILL HERE is beautifully-crafted by director Walter Salles, takes us into the warmth and fun of this large, lively family. Four girls and a boy, the youngest, keep both parents on their toes but the family is both close and fun. With the help of their live-in cook and maid, mom Eunice keeps everything running smoothly at home while big personality, fun Rubens earns the money and plays around with the kids. The couple entertain frequently in their home, have a big circle of friends and generally life is good in Rio. At the same time, they are aware of the realities of living under a dictatorship, and are careful to keep a low profile. Rubens was once a Congressman but that is in the past, and he stays out of politics now. Still, they are a politically-savvy couple, and it is a wake-up call when their oldest daughter is caught up in a military roadblock, as the authorities search for suspected terrorists and is quickly released only after the military police recognize her boyfriend’s diplomatic connections. When an ambassador disappears, they decide to send their oldest daughter, who will go to college next year and tends already to be outspoken, to London, along with friends who are relocating their family to Britain to escape Brazil’s government.

Eunice and Rubens think they are on top of things, until government official show up to take Rubens downtown for routine questioning. While he drives away, escorted by the officials, a handful of other government officials come into the house to hold the family there until her returns. Some of them are armed. Eunice is a gracious hostess to her uninvited guests, offering food and making them comfortable. Then new officials show up, to take in Eunice and her next oldest daughter in to ask a few questions.

The small steps by which things evolve from normal to not are part of the chilling tension in this well-crafted drama by director Walter Salles. The pacing, choice of shots and mis-en-scene are perfect as this film goes slowly, step-by-step, from it’s portrait of noisy familial happiness to tension and terror. When Rubens is taken away, it leaves Eunice to make decisions she is unaccustomed to making, on top of her worries.

By the time Eunice arrives at the facility where she will be questioned, she knows she is outside any thing normal. Still, she fiercely demands to see her husband or to at least know if he is there.

Fernanda Torres is virtually a national treasure for Brazil, a remarkable gifted actor who can pull off the challenges of this role and play a character convincingly through 40 years. Various actors play the kids as they grow but careful casting makes that seem seamless.

All the cast give excellent performances but Fernanda Torres is the one who shines brightest. Torres is outstanding as Eunice, depicting her going from her wife and mother role to stepping in to take charge. Early on, she is warm, appealing and smart as wife and mother but fierce as the wife defending her husband and children. Eunice is defiant and confident as she demands to see her husband, but she is disconcerted when her interrogator shrugs off her demands. On Torres’ expressive face, we see the slow dawning realization that she has no power after all, and fleeting shadows of fear pass over her face as well.

Torres is the center of most scenes and her powerful, nuanced portrayal of Eunice is key in the film’s

emotional impact, and a lynch pin in the narrative as well. The appeal of this close family is also key as we watch their world transformed.

The majority of the film focuses on the terrifying events the family endures, but then the film leaps forward in time more that twenty years to show them as survivors, adding both a note of hope and a sense of closure, as we see them changed but still standing. And Eunice is still here, as the title says. A further leap forward in time, to Eunice’s old age, gives almost a sense of triumph, despite the losses and what was endured. It is an unexpected way to end this kind of story but director Salles makes it something powerful by focusing on Fernanda Torres’ face again.

I’M STILL HERE is an inspiring true tale of a family that survives, enduring losses and battered but still standing, due to the strength of one woman. It is a film even the subtitle-adverse should see for its depiction of the slow advance of authoritarian power as it chips away at the normal, and for its redemptive ending.

I’M STILL HERE, in Portuguese with English subtitles, opens in theaters on Friday, Feb. 7.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

SEPTEMBER 5 – Review

Paramount Pictures’ “SEPTEMBER 5,” the film that unveils the decisive moment that forever changed media coverage and continues to impact live news today, set during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. the film that unveils the decisive moment that forever changed media coverage and continues to impact live news today, set during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. Courtesy of Paramount

The tragic events at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, when Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli athletes and took some hostage, has been to subject of other movies, including Stephen Spielberg’s MUNICH, but SEPTEMBER 5 tells that story from a unique viewpoint, that of the new media on site to cover that sporting event, and now thrust into a very different role. SEPTEMBER 5 is a taut historic drama specifically takes the perspective of the ABC Sports TV crew that was on-site when the attacks took place. As well as a shocking event that shattered the since of international cooperation and peace that had surrounded the Olympics, the event was a watershed in how TV media cover unfolding, breaking news events like that crisis.

When the terrorists took the Israelis hostage, the ABC TV Sports news team was suddenly thrust into the responsibility of covering a breaking news events, something that had never boon done and which had a profound effect on news reporting going forward.

Actually, Roone Arledge, the head of sports for the TV network, fought for his on-location team to remain in control of the coverage instead of turning it over to news reporters working remotely, as the Olympic village was locked-down by the crisis. The drama has the intensity of a thriller but also looks at both the technical innovations the team created on the spot and the ethics of reporting a crisis when lives were at stake.

Director Tim Fehlbaum co-wrote the script with Moritz Binder based on the real events, focusing on the TV news team as they race to cover the terrorist attack. The suspenseful film unfolds like a nail-biting thriller, as the journalists scramble to keep the world informed of unpredictable events with lives in the balance, and make ethical journalistic decisions, good or bad, on the fly.

Peter Sarsgaard plays ABC Sports executive Roone Arledge, the man in charge, but much of this taut drama focuses on a young Jewish-American producer, Geoff Mason (John Magaro), and his mentor Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin). As Bader’s protege, Mason is given what is assumed to be an easy first-time assignment, to run the ABC Sports news room in the quiet hours of the night, while most of the TV crew rests up for the Olympics coverage the next day. No one expects much to happen.

Yet, during the night, everything changes, as Arab terrorists gain access to the Olympic village where the Israeli athletes are housed and take them hostage. The TV sports news crew suddenly finds themselves the only TV operation with cameras on-site to cover the breaking news of the hostage crisis.

The film focuses events from the viewpoint of the ABC sports news crew, so we see only what they see and know what they know about evolving events. Those wanting a closer look at what the hostages experienced would get a better view of that with Spielberg’s film.

Roone Arledge fought his bosses at ABC to keep the sports TV crew in place, instead of turning things over to a hard-news crew. The technicians, camera men and the rest of the TV production crew are forced to innovate and adapt to a very different kind of coverage, as events shift, creating solutions on the fly to keep the camera on events and the world informed. Some of what they did to adapt, including early moving camera and live broadcast work with equipment that now looks very primitive, has had a lasting impact on TV news and media, but their actions and choices in how they reported the crisis with hostages also raised questions of journalists ethics and moral judgments too.

Peter Sarsgaard’s Roone Arledge is the voice for aggressive efforts to keep the cameras on the terrorists and evolving events to deliver the news to the world in real-time, while Ben Chaplin’s Marvin Bader represents the voice for ethical restraint and human considerations of what is happening under the camera’s eye.

The true-story based SEPTEMBER 5, which has received critical praise and awards nominations since it’s debut at the Venice and Telluride film festivals, is fast-paced and edge-of-the seat suspenseful, with the cast delivering strong ensemble performances working with a well-crafted script. The film has been singled out for those performances, as well as the editing and script.

John Magaro is excellent as the young producer who is forced to make some difficult decisions and solve knotty technical problems under pressure from unfolding events and conflicting pressures from boss Roone Arledge, played forcefully by Peter Sarsgaard and the emotional human and ethical concerns of his mentor Marvin Bader, well-played by Ben Chaplin. A standout supporting role, Marianne Gebhard, is played by German actress Leonie Benesch, who was so good in THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE, where she played the lead role of the beleaguered teacher. Her character Marianne Gebhard is one of few women in this 1970s news room, and when she is pressed into service in the essential role of translator, she winds up adding a layer of rawer human emotional response to what is happening to the hostages, which Benesch does in a moving performance.

SEPTEMBER 5 is a tense historical drama well-worth seeing for its well-crafted, well-acted and suspense-filled telling of the 1972 Munich Olympics tragedy, and how TV coverage of it changed how breaking news is covered.

SEPTEMBER 5 opens Friday, Jan. 24, at multiple area theaters, with two preview showings at Plaza Frontenac Cinema on Thursday, Jan. 16, which include a post-screening, pre-recorded Q&A with the cast and director.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

UNSTOPPABLE – Review

A scene from UNSTOPPABLE. Courtesy of Amazon MGM

Generally, sports films aren’t for me but UNSTOPPABLE is an exception, because this remarkable true story is more that an inspiring sport film but also a true story of human character, strength and determination, and even love and family. It is more than it seems at first. The true story of champion wrestler Anthony Robles, born with only one leg but with an unstoppable drive to succeed in the sport he loves, is inspiring but so is the personal story that goes with it. Robles faced a lot of challenges from the start but had one stroke of really good luck of having a supportive, loving parent in his teenaged mother. Actually, UNSTOPPABLE is not really about sports (although it does have impressive wrestling scenes), but about human courage and drive, and well, heart.

Anthony Robles faces challenges beyond just having been born with one leg, and dealing with the obstacles that creates for his athletic dreams. Anthony and his mother, and all his younger siblings form a loving Latino family but they barely scrapping by financially and things are made more precarious and complex by his mother’s unreliable, bossy husband.

The film tells two emotionally powerful true stories, the sports one and the family one, in parallel, creating a uniquely uplifting and universal human story, both inspiring in its refusal to quit and its capacity for love. UNSTOPPABLE sports an impressive cast, with Jharrel Jerome as Robles, supported by Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheadle, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Pena, and even the real Anthony Robles in wrestling scenes that blend him and the young actor playing him, in an startlingly effective FX.

The film shows Anthony Robles as more than a remarkable athlete but a person of remarkable inner strength, character, and kindness, while still being a fearsome fighter on the wrestling mat. It is inspiring but all done without a false note or sentimentality.

Jharrel Jerome plays Anthony Robles who we meet as a high schooler, a star wrestler with dreams of college, and the oldest child in a large Hispanic family that is barely scraping by financially. Jennifer Lopez plays his mother Judy, the rock holding the family together. Judy had Anthony when she was only 16 and mother and son are exceptionally close, and in many ways, Anthony is her rock as well as the source of her hopes. Bobby Cannavale plays Judy’s husband Rick, Antony’s stepdad and the father of his younger siblings. While Rick can be fun and entertaining, he can also be demanding and critical, particularly towards Anthony. The younger kids all look up to Anthony, and depend on him and their mother, while their loud-mouthed dad bosses everyone around. Worse, Rick likes to drink, is unreliable and has trouble holding a job, putting even more on Judy. Things don’t get better as the story unfolds.

Anthony dreams of becoming a NCAA champ but he is turned down by his first choice college, University of Iowa, which is widely considered to have the best wrestling program in the country. The coach quickly dismisses Anthony from consideration, feeling he is too big a gamble for a program already on top. His other top-pick colleges also pass him over. Although Drexel offers him a scholarship, he decides to go to Arizona State University, so he can stay home and help his mom. When he later goes to the mat against a top-seeded wrestler from University of Iowa, it’s time for some pay back.

The two threads of Anthony’s life are told in tandem, sometimes seems to mirror each other, but it is like two stories, with Anthony often the only connection. While UNSTOPPABLE has the usual basic outlines of any fact-based sports story, the personal one that is told long side it gives it an extra depth, and human connection.

The excellent wrestling scenes deserve special mention, as the FX are impressive, even if you are not a wrestling fan (which I am not). The real Anthony Robles appears in the wrestling scenes, where the film uses camera work, special effects and editing to merge him with the young actor Jharrel Jerome. The effect is seamless and fascinating. Watching Robles turn the tables on opponents by wrestling on his own terms is quite something, and you get a real sense of why some opponents complained that having one less leg to grab was actually to Robles advantage, as wily, flexible Robles slips away from their grasp. The scenes are quite thrilling, and satisfying, to watch, after Robles faces such dismissive treatment by some coaches or opponents.

The cast is superb in both these story lines, as is the storytelling from Oscar-winning film editor-turned-director William Goldenberg. As Anthony, Jharrel Jerome is in nearly every scene, and worked hard to build up his upper body muscle mass, master Anthony’s Arizona accent, his smooth movements on the crutches Anthony used all his life and, importantly, his wrestling moves, so fans of the sport would feel they were watching the real thing. Jennifer Lopez is excellent as his mother Judy, a complex character who is more than just a support for her son, but someone with her own issues. While Bobby Cannavale could easily made Rick a one-note villain, he makes him a more complicated character, haunted in his own way but with misplaced anger taken out on the family.

Fortunately for Anthony, his high school coach Bobby Williams is more of a father figure. Michael Pena is a steady rock as the high school coach, who stays involved even after his young friend goes on to college. Don Cheadle, as always, is excellent as Arizona State wrestling coach Shawn Charles, coming across at first as a hard-nosed, even unfeeling, but gradually softening as he learns the depths of this young wrestler’s inner (and outer) strengths. Michael Pena is steady rock as Anthony’s high school coach who still has his young friend’s back as he goes on to college.

Unable to get a wrestling scholarship, Anthony also takes a job on top of everything else, as a cleaner at the airport, where he wins over everyone on the crew with is positive nature and work ethic.

What Anthony is doing as he pursues his wrestling dreams and what he copes with at home are both enormous challenges – and to have to juggle them at the same time, and successfully, is more than you would think anyone could do. Yet that show of strength and character is exactly why this is such a great true story. If you feel in need for a little break and uplift from depressing news, this well-made, true-story drama can be just the tonic.

UNSTOPPABLE debuts streaming on Prime Video on Thursday, Jan 16.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

SING SING – Review

Colman Domingo in SING SING. Courtesy of A24

SING SING is not about vocalizing but a powerful, moving drama about the transformative power of art in an deeply human story about men incarcerated at the Sing Sing penitentiary in rural New York. Nonetheless, SING SING does indeed sing, with a tour-de-force performance by Colman Domingo as one of the men participating in the prison theater arts program, a program that transforms the lives of those incarcerated through performing in plays and expressing their humanity and finding uplift.

Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison about 30 miles north of Manhattan on the east bank of the Hudson River in New York, is the setting for the true story-based SING SING. In this very different kind of prison drama, Colman Domingo stars as John “Divine G” Whitfield, a man imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, who finds emotional release and hope through acting and writing in the prison performing arts program known as Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). Divine G has carved out a place for himself as an acknowledged Shakespeare star but finds himself challenged by a wary newcomer known as Divine Eye (Clarence Maclin). This outstanding, moving, authentic human drama serves as a showcase for the talents of the Oscar-nominated Colman Domingo but also for this admirable, creative rehabilitation program, with a cast of formerly incarcerated actors who are alumni of the program.

The Rehabilitation Through the Arts program is one of several similar theater programs in prisons around the country, including Missouri, which serve as an outlet for people who are incarcerated and source of human insight and personal transformation and uplift for those in imprisoned. While other dramas set in institutions have cast non-actor residents in smaller supporting roles, SING SING takes that a step further, filling nearly every role in this film, based on a true story, with alumni of this very prison performing arts program, starting with Colman Domingo’s co-star Clarence Maclin, who essentially plays himself in the film.

Unlike many prison dramas, the focus in this film is on the humanity of these men, not on the crime or circumstances that led to their imprisonment. Director/writer Greg Kwedar and co-writer/producer Clint Bentley based the script on an Esquire article, “The Sing Sing Follies” by John H. Richardson about a time-travel comedy written and performed by the men at Sing Sing called “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code.” Formerly incarcerated RTA actors Clarence Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield also contributed to the script, for which they are credited in the film. Another key aide in making the film was Brent Buell, a playwright, actor and theater director, who volunteered with the RTA program at Sing Sing for more than 10 years and who also wrote and directed “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code.” Buell is portrayed in the film by actor Paul Raci. Sean San José is another professional actor in the cast, playing Divine G’s best friend Mike Mike, who happens to be a close friend of Colman Domingo in real life, making a nice parallel.

Colman Domingo, who earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his lead role in the Civil Rights era drama RUSTIN, gets to show off even more of his considerable acting range in this impressive film. Playing a man in prison who is playing various acting roles lets Domingo give us a sampling of his skills that includes snippets of Shakespeare and more. The story arc of Domingo’s character Divine G is a roller coaster ride that delves into the depths of human nature, which the actor uses to deliver another finely-crafted, emotionally-gripping performance.

As the film opens, Domingo’s Divine G has made good use of this time, using the prison’s law library to research legal challenges in his own case but to also help other prisoners with theirs. He has also spent his time writing, both plays and a book, which has found a following with prison populations. He offers his legal expertise to the newcomer as well but Divine Eye holds himself aloof and turns the offer of help aside. The wary Divine Eye seems an unlikely candidate for this program, a prison yard tough guy who is a true loner, selling drugs and bullying “weaker” men into paying him money. Yet, Divine Eye has become bored with his prison yard scams and is looking for something else to occupy his mind.

Domingo is so good in his role, demonstrating his remarkable range, that he could carry the film on his own. But the story’s focus on this worthy program and on the humanity of these real people within prison walls is moving, insightful and uplifting, without striking any note of false sentiment. The course of the true story is not entirely unexpected but the performances around it lift is into a realm of raw human emotion, with people struggling to finding a kind of freedom within the prison’s confines

Filmed on location at Sing Sing, cinematographer Pat Scola focuses less on the expected prison interiors and more on the natural world outside the prison walls, and manages to capture an unexpected beauty in its natural surroundings. We get lush, green shots of views of the trees seen through a small window, the river and grassy bank that surround this prison on the Hudson river, and the lonely, strangely imposing railway that runs along side the institution. Inside, we see the common room where the RTA participants rehearse and brainstorm their play, and the theater. more than the usual bars and doors, although we also see the cramped little cells the men occupy. Transforming this institutional setting into something visually striking, even beautiful, echoes the transformation taking place within those participating in the theater arts program.

Director Greg Kwedar and co-writer Clint Bentley are producing, writing and directing partners whose films focus on human connections in unlikely, even impossible situations. Their previous film JOCKEY, starred Clifton Collins Jr., taking viewers behind the scenes of a horse racing track in a tale of an aging jockey, another film that cast some non-actors who were actually part of that world and featured an emotionally powerful performance. That drama also highlights the filmmakers’ commitment to top-notch acting in insightful human storytelling, which again is at the forefront in SING SING.

SING SING’s story is both individual and universal in its human focus, on humanity’s struggles, for both self-expression and human connection. The disappointments of life, the resiliency of the human spirit, the power of friendship, and the uplift of art and hope are all portrayed in both powerful and realistic ways.

SING SING sings as an electrifying drama about the transformative potential of art, the resilience of the human spirit and the power of human connection, which also throws a deserving spotlight on the talents of Colman Domingo and on the value of prison performing arts programs like RTA.

SING SING opens Friday, Aug. 16, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

WIDOW CLICQUOT – Review

Haley Bennett as Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, the widow Clicquot, in Thomas Napper’s WIDOW CLICQUOT. Photo Credit: Ash Stephens. Courtesy of Vertical

If you celebrate by drinking champagne, you have a French widow in the Napoleonic age to thank. And if you want the best, one of France’s top champagnes is Veuve Clicquot, a name that translates as “Widow Clicquot.” honoring the young widow who took over the family vineyard and winery she had run with her husband, and not only made it into one of the leading makers of the bubbly but also transforming the whole champagne industry.

WIDOW CLICQUOT is an English-language historical drama recounting the true story of that brilliant, innovative woman, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, known as “Grande Dame of Champagne,” who lived from 1777 to 1866. Haley Bennett plays Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, the widow Clicquot, who not only made the Clicquot family’s champagne famous (with its distinctive yellow label) but who also invented pink champagne and created innovations that transformed the entire champagne industry itself. And all that in the time of Napoleon, when women had no rights and were forbidden to run a business – unless they were a widow continuing her husband’s business.

We first meet Barbe-Nicole as a newly widowed 28-year-old with a young daughter, as she fends off pressure from her well-meaning father-in-law Phillipe (Ben Miles) to sell the vineyard and winery to the neighboring Moet vineyard. But the widow is determined to run the vineyard and winery she and her late husband Francois (Tom Sturridge) had built together from the family business his father had turned over to him. She makes a deal with her father-in-law to let her try to run the winery and vineyard on her own for a limited amount of time, a deal he agrees to out of fondness for her but with the firm belief that no woman has the capacity to run a business, least of all this young widow.

With ground-breaking innovative ideas, the widow Clicquot tries to hold on to the dream she shared with Francois. The resourceful young widow quickly enlists the help of the talented salesman (Sam Riley) she and her husband had worked with, someone who was also a friend, to help her take the business to a new level. The gifted salesman – who traveled to sell the wine in various markets, a new idea at the time – takes the stunning new wines the widow makes straight to the top of society: the royal families of Europe.

The true story unfolds against the backdrop of the tumultuous age of Napoleon, with wars and all that followed. Director Thomas Napper’s lush period drama features all the lovely sets and costumes audiences could want, plus gorgeous visuals and a fine British cast, to complement this inspiring period biopic about one of the first women entrepreneurs in France. At a mere 90 minutes, the drama covers a lot of historical territory briskly. With the widow’s hard work, expertise with the vines and brilliant skill in experimenting with new wines, and the salesman’s tireless travel and his talent for marketing, something magical might take place – if nothing goes wrong. With weather and war as adversaries, it becomes a race between innovation and chance.

The story is full of unexpected twists and turns as the risk-taking widow determinedly improves her wine, despite setbacks and challenges of various kinds. Like most period dramas, there is a bit of romance too, in scenes that flashback to her life with Francois. Their marriage was arranged by their wine-making families but it turned into true love, and a partnership of equals, inspired by the humanist ideals of the age.

But these characters are more complex than in a standard period drama. While these flashbacks give a romantic touch, they soon turn more complex, adding a tragic dimension to this tale of one remarkable woman. Ultimately, the focus is on the accomplishments of this brilliant, determined woman more than on romance. Further both the widow and the wandering salesman are more complicated people than we might assume, while the father-in-law, fond as he is of his son’s widow, can’t escape his ideas about what women can do, something also true of the society of the time. There is plenty of risk and rule-breaking, which adds a layer of tension and suspense to the tale.

WIDOW CLIQUOT is an inspiring drama about a courageous real woman entrepreneur who faced more sexism and barriers than we could imagine yet achieved success through it all. Which deserves a toast with that bubbly wine she worked so hard to perfect.

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

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON – Review

Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” premiering in theaters around the world on October 20, 2023. Courtesy of AppleTV+

In the 1920s, the people of the Osage Nation became the richest people on earth after oil was discovered under their supposedly worthless land. The money drew ambitious white men and not long after, Osage began to die in a series of suspicious deaths, some of which were clearly murder. Based on journalist David Grann’s bestselling non-fiction book “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” Martin Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON turns that non-fiction book into drama that combines elements of romance, mystery, and the history of the 1920s Osage murders, in an epic Western thriller starring Leo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone.

Grann’s non-fiction book details these killings and suspicious deaths, which occurred as fortune-hunting white men found that marrying Osage women was a way to access the Osage Nation’s wealth. Their arrival was followed by a series of brutal, mysterious deaths, first noticed in 1921, but continuing for a long time with little investigation by the local authorities charged with overseeing law enforcement on tribal lands.

Scorsese turns this horrendous bit of history into an epic tale of evil, greed and deceit set in a sweeping Western landscape with one of unexpected love, in a visually lush, moving, tragic film. The film was a hit a Cannes, where it debuted out of competition. The film has resonated with both critics and audiences, but the most positive responses seem to come from those who read the bestselling non-fiction book. There is no need to have read the book to follow the story but it seems that having done so might deepen understanding of the Osage Nation’s plight. Scorsese’s film focuses primarily on this one story, while the non-fiction book takes a broader view.

Scorsese’ movie follows the deaths in one particular Osage family, of which Mollie Kyle is one daughter of the ailing matriarch, played by legendary Native actresses Tantoo Cardinal. Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns from World War I with a war injury that limits the kind of physical work he can do, and comes to stay with his uncle William Hale (Robert DeNiro), known as King, hoping to find work. The uncle has a prosperous ranch within the Osage reservation but his land has no oil. Having lived there so long, King Hale has established friendly ties with the Osage Nation, and even speaks the language, but he is also a powerful man some fear. King sees an opportunity with his handsome but not-too-bright young nephew, and before long he is hinting that his nephew might want to marry one of the Osage women, and even offers some advice when speaking to them.

Ernest listens politely but doesn’t entirely buy his uncle’s idea. Still, in addition to doing odd jobs for his uncle while living in his mansion, Ernest also drives an informal taxi service since most of the Osage don’t drive. While richer Osage have chauffeurs but others just hire taxis like Ernest’s. Waiting for potential fares, he spots and taken by one pretty young Osage woman, Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone). She coolly rebuffs his offer, and his flirtatious advances. Yet, later when she does need a ride and he again badgers her to let him drive her, she begrudgingly gives in.

She remains stand-offish during the ride but over the next days, his persistence and good humor start to amuse her, and she softens. “He’s dumb but he’s handsome,” she tells her sister, shortly before she invites him to dinner at her home, a mansion she shares with her aging mother Lizzie Q (Tantoo Cardinal).

Ernest is truly smitten almost from the start and Mollie eventually falls for him too. The love match certainly is convenient for the uncle who has his own plan for his nephew’s new wife and her family.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro are excellent, essentially playing against type with DiCaprio’s dimwitted Ernest manipulated by DeNiro’s Machiavellian uncle. But the big revelation is Lily Gladstone, in what may be a star-making performance. Scorsese cast Native actors in several roles as Osage, including Lily Gladstone, who is of Piegan Blackfeet and Nez Perce heritage and grew up on the Blackfeet reservation, but she is also a cousin of British former prime minister William Gladstone. She gave standout performances in small roles in two Kelly Reichert films, CERTAIN WOMEN and FIRST COW, but this larger starring part gives her a chance to really shine. And shine she does, nearly stealing the movie from her more famous costars.

Robert DeNiro’s uncle King is all sweetness and solicitousness when dealing with the Osage, and even his nephew Ernest, most of the time, but he can forcefully, frighteningly pivot if he doesn’t get his way. Even in his smiling mode, DeNiro’s King has an underlying current of menace. The Osage deal with him as a friend in public but when just among themselves, there is fear and growing suspicion. Ernest isn’t the only white man to marry into Mollie’s family, and the family trait of diabetes means that Mollie, her mother and one sister are often sickly, in this pre-insulin era. DiCaprio’s Ernest gives mixed messages about who he is and his true motives, seeming to truly waver between good and bad, although we are never certain, and perhaps Ernest isn’t either.

But as people start to turn up dead, even in Mollie’s family, in freak accidents and even clear murdered but with no suspect found, things grow tense and then frantic. The Osage leaders know the community is under attack but are powerless to stop it.

Several messages and messengers are sent to the federal government back east, alerting them to the murders, with little effect. Finally a representative of the newly-formed FBI appears, in the form of seemingly mild-manner official, played well by Jesse Plemons.

Epic is the right word to describe this drama, as this film runs about three and a half hours. However, the film is so well structured, so involving and gripping, and so perfectly paced, that one does not feel the running time.

The photography is stunning, as are the costumes and careful attention to period details, making the film both an immersive experience and visually pleasing. In an opening scene, oil gushes from the ground, spewing over some Osage men transversing the windswept plain, symbolicly covering them. In another moment, a huge fire fills the screen in a nighttime scene, creating a horrifying image that mirrors the growing panic of the Osage people under attack by the hidden foe. Eventually tTension is so thick as the drama unfolds that both the characters and the audience are on edge.

Scorsese also skillfully uses a number of period-appropriate techniques to give us a strong sense of time and place for this moving drama. These include written text in a form that resembles title cards in silent movies of the era, newspaper headlines and newsreel footage in movie theaters referencing the Tulsa Massacre, which overlapped these events, and period appropriate jazz, blues and old-time country music. Towards the end, Scorsese uses a radio drama format in a thrillingly effective scene.

One does not have to have read the excellent non-fiction book to follow this tale of love, betrayal and murder, but having read the book deepens one’s understanding of the history it depicts. The film only lightly touches on details such as that Osage were among the peoples relocated to what would become Oklahoma in the Trail of Tears tragedy. Like the Cherokee, the Osage had made a decision to partly assimilate while retaining parts of their culture, in their own fashion, trading with the white economy and adopting some of white culture such as a written language. The hope was to avoid the annihilation happening to other Native peoples, by becoming “civilized” and working in partnership with whites.

The drama unfolds in stages, smoothly shifting at each step, first a romance and family drama, then a crime drama and mystery, then a courtroom drama. At each pivot point, the characters develop and transform, revealing more of their true nature or being changed by events. The end is both heart breaking and exactly as it should be. It all adds up to a stunning piece of cinema on a unjustly forgotten moment of in the long history of injustices toward Native peoples. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON is a masterpiece movie by a master filmmaker, which seems a likely Oscar winner.

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON opens in theaters on Friday, Oct. 20.

RATING: 4 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