Quick Reviews, End of 2017, Part 3: Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Last Flag Flying, Roman J. Israel, Esq., Ingrid Goes West, Detroit

Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017): A romance sparks between a young actor and a Hollywood leading lady.

So, before I begin, I should mention that I saw this film in the prestigious Laemmle Santa Monica Film Center. It definitely added to the romance of seeing this movie. Now that I've mentioned that.....this film is alright. It stars the wonderful Annette Bening, and she portrays a classic Hollywood leading lady, Gloria Grahame. I think Bening's performance is a "You either love it or you hate it" kind of performance, but if you know the real-life Gloria Grahame at all you'll certainly fall into the former category. Opposite her is Jamie Bell, who puts in a powerfully intimate performance. But, as for the movie itself....it plays out exactly how you expect it to. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it hits every note you expect it to hit, when you expect it to do so, so when it gets to the more emotional moments you know it's trying to play you like a fiddle. Sadly, in this case, when I knew it was playing me like a fiddle all I could do is shrug. Also, the pacing is all over the place. Director Paul McGuigan makes the TERRIBLE mistake to replay entire scenes from another character's perspective. I'm all for a quick shot or two of a previous scene to give us the other perspective, but remaining in that scene for 4-5 minutes just blows the pacing out of the water. No thank you. Otherwise, there really isn't much else to talk about. There's a good supporting cast, led by the GREAT Stephen Graham who is playing an Irishman dialed up to 11, but.....eh? If you're a fan of any of these actors, or a fan of Gloria Graham and the final days of her life it's worth a watch. Otherwise, there are better romances out there to go and see. Least I got to see it in the spectacular Laemmle Santa Monica Film Center! I dream about watching films in an environment like that.....

My Number: 6/10

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Last Flag Flying

Last Flag Flying (2017): Thirty years after they served together in Vietnam, a former Navy Corpsman Larry "Doc" Shepherd re-unites with his old buddies, former Marines Sal Nealon and Reverend Richard Mueller, to bury his son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War.

Ugggghhhh what could have been. This film should've been a two-part TV special. The brainchild of the great Richard Linklater, (who wrote and directed this) fresh off the success of the incredible Boyhood, Last Flag Flying tells (what should have been) the intimate and personal story of a father burying his child after he's killed in battle. The problem is, that story only takes about 45 minutes to tell. This is a 125 minute movie. As a result, Linklator jams a lot of rather pointless subplots to pad the runtime, as well as the second part of that two-part TV special where Steve Carrell, Bryan Cranston, and Laurence Fishburne all go on a path of self-reckoning as they battle with their own demons from their time serving in Vietnam. This subplot feels very out-of-place in this movie, especially for a father who just lost his son. "Hey, guys. I know my kid just died and I want to bury him, but let's go and find the mother of a kid we served with during Vietnam before the burial! ROAD TRIP." It just doesn't fit. That's why it would be GREAT as the second part of a TV special. Part one: bury the son. Part two: help each other. Also....Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne both felt....off to me. This story should've been told in a quiet and personal way, but both of these guys (especially Cranston) just feel over-the-top and out-of-place. THAT SAID: Steve Carell is TERRIFIC as the father burying his son. He plays that role exactly like he should have. It's just unfortunate that Cranston/Fishburne didn't follow suit. It is funny at times, and it's impossible not to like all three of these actors, (especially Cranston....he may be over-the-top but he still made me laugh a lot and love him) buuuuuut the story is just a mess and told in all the wrong ways. Find something else to watch.
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My Number: 4/10

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Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017): Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defense attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity for extreme action.

How is this movie nominated for an Academy Award? Writer/director Dan Gilroy follows up his massively successful debut, Nightcrawler, with a film that is nowhere near as good as its predecessor. This movie is very messy and struggles to be about, well, anything. What is the purpose of this? Beats me. Maybe this Oscar nod was a make-up vote for not nominating Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, which was my top performance of 2014. But Denzel Washington is not only NOT Oscar-worthy, he was borderline..... bad. His portrayal of Roman is all over-the-place. The writing behind him doesn't help, as his arc is very messy. Honestly, I don't even know where Gilroy was trying to take his character. It was reminiscent of Gyllenhaal's transformation in Nightcrawler, but Washington's transformation wasn't earned in any way. We're greeted in Nightcrawler with Gyllenhaal already displaying questionable morals, but Washington starts off with 30+ years of exemplary character, and here he tosses all of it away over the course of a weekend. It was just silly! The supporting cast here is fine....it's impossible for Collin Farrell to be bad, and Carmen Ejogo is as lovely as ever. But, this movie just doesn't do much of anything that's interesting, and it's extremely forgettable. About halfway through it turns into an attempt at a thriller, but none of it is even remotely thrilling, and it plays out exactly how you would expect it to. The few redeeming qualities found here lie in the supporting cast. It is pretty baffling that this movie was nominated for an Academy Award.

My Number: 3.5/10

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Ingrid Goes West

Ingrid Goes West (2017): An unhinged social media stalker moves to LA and insinuates herself into the life of an Instagram star.

​I don't know how to feel about this movie. On the one hand, it's a rather charming story featuring a lovable antihero in Aubrey Plaza, (playing the title character) but on the other hand its tone feels somewhat off. See, this movie deals with a lot of serious issues but unfortunately it handles them in a rather nonchalant way. Other people have explained the issues with this film far better than I ever could, but its glorification/satire of mental illness/suicide is rather uncomfortable. It seems like the issues with this film fall in a similar category as the issues surrounding Netflix's 13 Reasons Why. That aside (which admittedly is a rather large issue to just put aside) there's a really charming film here, buoyed by a great performance from Aubrey Plaza. There's a type of character she tends to play, and here she turns that character up to eleven and shows a rather far-reaching emotional range in the process. Additionally, I really dug how this film presented social media. There was a lot of the cheap "shot of text on a phone," but as Ingrid would scroll through Instagram posts, how the film presented these sequences was really solid. Voiceovers and good editing go a long way. O'Shea Jackson, Jr. is also lovely playing a role that oftentimes women are delegated to, but he portrays "the boyfriend" with a lot of charm. Far cry from his portrayal of his dad in the outstanding Straight Outta Compton. This movie did make me emotional at points, but it's hard not to when you address the things this film addresses. I just wish it had done so in a more respectful way. It was certainly enjoyable, but it's simply impossible to ignore its glorification of mental illness/suicide. 

My Number: 6/10 

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Detroit

Detroit (2017): Fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds.

What a wasted opportunity.​ I wanted to like this. I really did. And, at the center of it there is a naturally dramatic and (unfortunately still) culturally relevant event that this movie is trying to tell. But it does it soooooo poorly. The film bites off WAY more than it can chew, and in the process can't really figure out what it wants to do with itself. It starts out telling the story of the start of the Detroit riots, which sadly isn't all that relevant to the events that take place here, and then after the crux of the story concludes there's a VERY rushed third act where we see the trial of the officers involved take place. Even though you know exactly what is going to happen. Then, the movie just sort of....ends. Like a performer who has completely botched his finale but tries to say "Tada!" to make it all better. Katheryn Bigelow, as one of the few prominent female directors out there, (also unfortunate) I can't help but respect her immensely. She's made great things before, and she will again. But, sadly, that greatness is not here. OH! Additionally! There's some really bad dialogue in this. The INCREDIBLE cast of this movie (you know you have a great cast when Jason Mitchell has basically one scene, though I will say John Krasinski and Jeremy Strong are hilariously miscast) does all they can to cover it up, but there's only so much you can do with some of the TERRIBLE dialogue these guys are given. I know. I'm being overly harsh on this film, but it's for good reason: the second act of this thing is gut-wrenching. There's some real drama in here, and it will leave you angry, which is exactly what it was trying to do. I just wish there's was a good first and third act to go along with it.

My Number: 4.5/10