Tag: Jon Bernthal

Movie Review – ‘Widows’ – Windy City Heat

Directed by Steve McQueen
Written by Gillian Flynn & Steve McQueen, based on the television series created by Lynda La Plante
Cast: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Jacki Weaver, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, Liam Neeson, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Jon Bernthal, Garret Dillahunt, Michael Harney, Lukas Haas, Matt Walsh, Adepero Oduye, Ann Mitchell, Kevin J. O’Connor
Soundtrack: Hans Zimmer

Dear Lord, is anyone (other than Kevin J. O’Connor) in this movie actually from Chicago?

It’s a very specific accent.  It’s not like New York where anybody can just throw it on and be passable, you pretty much need to grab real Chicagoans to do it.  I mean, if the movie took place in Chicago and everybody just had a neutral accent, I’d be fine with it, but the fact that some people do and some people (none of whom are portrayed by Americans) have incredibly hackneyed (borderline comedic, to be honest) Chi-Town accents (like why does Robert Duvall sound like Robert Duvall but his son played by Colin Farrell sounds like a cartoon villain?), and then Garret Dillahunt is doing his West Texas thing, what are we doing?

So, that’s one problem I have.

Shocking as it may be, I did not see 12 Years a Slave, or any other of his films, so I’m unfamiliar with Steve McQueen (the director, not the actor), but I did see Gone Girl (one of the best films of 2014), so I am familiar with the screenwriter Gillian Flynn.  Suffice it to say, Widows is no Gone Girl (although it is better than The Girl on The Train, which is something), which is fine, but it falls in the long line of movies based on BBC miniseries that feel like truncated versions of miniseries (e.g. Edge of Darkness and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy).

Make no mistake, I’m not saying Widows is a “bad movie”.  There’s a lot to like (Daniel Kaluuya in particular steals every scene he’s in and I’m a little upset he’s not in the movie more), but there’s also a lot that feels lazy or not quite entirely thought out.  Perhaps most emblematic of this (other than the questionable accents) is the music.  I like Hans Zimmer fine, but much of the score for Widows just feels like B-sides from The Dark Knight and Dunkirk.  Also, there’s an effort to make some political and social commentary, some of which works in a matter-of-fact way, but most of it just feels clunky.

In the end, it’s entertainment, and it’s okay, but it’s nothing life-changing.  You can wait til it’s at the Redbox or on Netflix.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Movie Review – ‘Wind River’ – Frontier Justice

Written and Directed by Taylor Sheridan
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Kelsey Asbille, Julia Jones, Teo Briones, Apesanahkwat, Graham Greene, Tantoo Cardinal, Eric Lange, Gil Birmingham, Tokala Clifford, Martin Sensmeier, Tyler Laracca, Ian Bohen, Hugh Dillon, Matthew Del Negro, James Jordan, Jon Bernthal, Blake Robbins
Soundtrack: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

In a span of less than two years, Taylor Sheridan has proven himself to be one of the great screenwriters of this decade, having previously penned Sicario and Hell Or High Water; and now he proves himself to be a fine filmmaker as well.

Equal parts harsh and beautiful, like the cold western landscapes it so revels in, Wind River is a quiet, mature thriller with genuine emotional depth and down-to-earth characters.

The story is not particularly complicated, a girl’s been murdered on an Indian Reservation and we need to find out who did it, but I don’t mind in this case.  Sometimes overly twisty plots can take you right out of the movie if they’re not done with the proper touch, so I applaud the restraint here (aka not everything needs to be The Usual Suspects).

In terms of performances, I’ve had a soft spot for Jeremy Renner since I first noticed him all the way back in 2003’s S.W.A.T.  He’s a fine actor who does well with everything he’s given, but he hasn’t gotten many opportunities to truly shine.  Wind River is one such opportunity.

Given its August release, I’m not sure how much faith the studio has that Wind River will be major awards bait, but make no mistake, this is the best Jeremy Renner performance we’ve seen in some time.  True, it’s very much in his usual understated fashion, but let’s just say he carries a lot of weight in this one.

Naturally, Elizabeth Olsen puts in a good shift as well (what a delight she’s been since seemingly coming out of nowhere in 2011; even if she was in that awful American Godzilla…), and the supporting characters really help fill everything out, particularly Graham Greene and Gil Birmingham (the scenes between he and Renner are among my favorite in the film).

I also give this movie a lot of credit for its realistic and darkly beautiful portrayal of grief (I put it up there with the original Edge of Darkness mini-series), which is something we don’t get enough of in our media across the board (too often it’s played way up, either melodramatically or for comedy’s sake, depending on the context).

Wind River is also remarkably successful at being laid back but never boring, which I attribute to Taylor Sheridan’s screenplay and story structure, dolling out information at a steady enough rate to keep the audience constantly engaged.

Other than that, I don’t have much else to say, good or bad, but if I do have one small criticism, it’s that I felt like this movie could have been more cinematic in its look (sometimes I got a real TV vibe from what I was seeing), but that’s about it.

All-in-all, Wind River is an impressive “debut” from Taylor Sheridan, on par with the classic Coen Brothers noirs (just played a little straighter, as most Coen films are dark comedies at heart), and a fine addition to what continues to be one of the best movie summers I can remember for a long time.

Check it out.

Rating: ★★★★½ (out of five)

Movie Review – ‘Baby Driver’ – “A Rock & Roll Fable”

Written and Directed by Edgar Wright
Cast: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Jon Bernthal, CJ Jones, Flea, Lanny Joon, Sky Ferreira, Allison King, Big Boi, Killer Mike, Paul Williams, Sidney Sewell, Thurman Sewell, Jon Spencer, Walter Hill
Soundtrack: Steven Price

I love me some Edgar Wright.

From Spaced, to the Cornetto Trilogy, and even Scott Pilgrim (And have I mentioned I’m still disappointed that Marvel couldn’t work it out with him on Ant-Man? Although his fingerprints are still very much there), the man’s resume is impeccable.

Still, for some reason I couldn’t figure out, I was worried about Baby Driver (which apparently is also the title of a Simon & Garfunkel song; The More You Know).

Maybe the studio just didn’t know how to market it (I mean, this is Sony we’re talking about).  Maybe he’d changed, or I’d changed, or we’d both changed.  Maybe he was going in a new direction and I just wasn’t ready for it.  For whatever reason, something inside me kept saying, “I don’t know about this one.”

Fortunately, my fears were quickly allayed, as I realized not long into the runtime that this film is the best thing he’s done in ten years.

As you’d expect from Edgar Wright, Baby Driver consists of layers upon layers upon layers (including the spirit of Atlanta), as it’s clearly influenced by Walter Hill’s The Driver (which influenced Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive), which itself was based on Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï (which influenced many films, including Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog).

However, as wonderful and influential as those two films are (I’d personally recommend both of them), and as much as there are echoes of all of his previous works throughout, Wright’s Baby is very much its own…baby: a symphony of cars, music, and that signature kinetic energy like we’ve never quite seen before.

Tone-wise, it’s by far the most serious film Edgar has ever done, and it’s got plenty of bite to back up the bark, but that doesn’t mean it’s not without a genuine sense of humor; I’d compare it to The Nice Guys in that regard (unfortunately, the trailers are playing up the humor way too much, making the movie look borderline farcical; it didn’t even occur to me that the movie was rated-R until the second or third F-bomb).  This is both a major strength and a minor weakness, because the tonal shifts don’t always quite jibe, but, like I said, it’s a small flaw in a large masterpiece.

In terms of car action, I’m going to say this is the most visceral work I’ve seen since Mad Max: Fury Road (if you’ve got another legitimate nominee from the past two years, I’m all ears).  Edgar Wright himself said 95% of the car stuff is for real, both inside and out, and it shows.  There’s even one chase that might rival To Live and Die in L.A., which I never thought I’d ever say about any movie.  Frankly, I’m not sure it’s even worth attempting to describe the breadth of the gratuitous vehicular action; you truly must see it for yourself.

Of course, all of this might be for naught if the story and the performances weren’t up to par (down to par?), but not to worry.  I wouldn’t put every performance in the same basket, but the core of Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, and Lily James is rock solid, which is all that really matters; everybody else is free to be as much of a character (or caricature, depending on your perspective) as they want to be.

If I have any other criticisms besides the occasional odd tonal shift, it’s that the movie is sometimes just a bit too much, in that the camera is almost always moving (though at least they could afford a steadicam, unlike some people), and the soundtrack is sometimes a bit too noisy.  Maybe I’m just becoming an old man, I don’t know, but I never felt like I was having sensory overload watching Fury Road, whereas Baby Driver had it creep in a few times.

All-in-all though, there’s not much to complain about.  Some might say Baby Driver is style over substance, but sometimes the style is the substance (e.g. Guy Ritchie’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E.).  I say it’s one of the best movies of the year, and I bet I’ll still be saying that come New Year’s Eve.

Whether you’re a die-hard Edgar Wright fanatic or a new fish, if you like gunfights, car chases, and proper action (and music), this film is for you.  This was an idea that’d been brewing in his head for a long time, and we are fortunate to see it come to fruition.

Rating: ★★★★½ (out of five)