It’d be a stretch to say these movies are related in anyway, because they’re not, but I saw them back-to-back-to-back over the course of a few days, so, here we are.
You Were Never Really Here
Written and Directed by Lynne Ramsay
Based on the novel by Jonathan Ames
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov, Alex Manette, John Doman, Judith Roberts, Alessandro Nivola, Frank Pando, John Doman, Dante Pereira-Olson
Soundtrack: Jonny Greenwood
Based on the fact that the marketing for this film involved #BringTheHammer on social media, you might think that You Were Never Really Here is some kind of grindhouse throwback or some other sort of schlock masterpiece, but I’ll tell you right up front that this is definitely not the case.
If anything, and it took me almost until the very end to realize this, You Were Never Really Here is actually anti-schlock.
There have been countless movies made about vigilantes having to rescue people from the clutches of evil, and most of them are wrapped up in a nice, neat bow because they’re for entertainment purposes only.
What You Were Never Really Here does is show how messy this kind of thing would be in real life, how the people involved, whether heroes, villains, victims, or otherwise would not be able to go through this (in our hero’s case, regularly, for a living) without being profoundly affected by it, physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.
And, most of the time, the movie doesn’t even give you the satisfaction of showing you the brutality in action, often skipping to the end after the deed has been done. This will no doubt frustrate some audiences looking to enjoy some on-screen violence, but I respect the creative choice and the statement it makes.
Of course I’d be absolutely remiss if I didn’t mention Joaquin Phoenix, whose performance is truly the centerpiece of the film. Far from the perfect killing machines of the Liam Neesons, Phoenix’s “Joe” is in deep need of repair (sometimes literally), but is also savagely assured when it comes to his work. It’s not the flashiest role, he doesn’t say much, but there’s a level of humanity here that not everybody could pull off.
In the end, this is a quality film from Lynne Ramsay, but not the easiest to recommend.
All I can really say for sure is don’t expect Taken.
Rating: ★★★½
Best F(r)iends: Volume One
Directed by Justin MacGregor
Written by Greg Sestero
Cast: Tommy Wiseau, Greg Sestero, Paul Scheer, Kristen Stephenson Pino, Vince Jolivette, R.J. Cantu, Rick Edwards
Soundtrack: Daniel Platzman
I’m not going to spend too much time on this one.
Ever since The Room became the cult classic that it is today, I guess some people (not me) have been waiting for “the next big thing” from Tommy Wiseau, which is what Greg Sestero (“Mark” from The Room) is attempting to provide us with by writing and producing this two volume “epic”, but the whole thing feels like a misstep to me.
They don’t have much in common, but this situation reminds me of what was bothersome about the whole buildup to Snakes on a Plane, which is the idea of someone trying to make a cult classic right out of the box. That’s not how cult classics work.
Additionally, it appears this movie is attempting to harness the so-bad-its-good magic of The Room, but so-bad-its-good magic doesn’t work like that either.
In a nutshell, this is really just a bad sort-of-thriller where occasionally Tommy Wiseau will say something funny and/or they’ll make a wink and a nod to The Room, but mostly it’s just bad.
An unsatisfying theatrical experience if I’ve ever had one, and I didn’t even have any expectations.
Rating: ★½
Borg vs McEnroe
Directed by Janus Metz
Written by Ronnie Sandahl
Cast: Sverrir Gudnason, Shia LaBeouf, Stellan Skarsgård, Tuva Novotny, Robert Emms, Björn Granath, Scott Arthur, Tom Datnow, Jane Perry, Thomas Hedengran, Ian Blackman, Colin Stinton
Soundtrack: Vladislav Delay, Jon Ekstrand, Carl-Johan Sevedag, Jonas Struck
Back to movies that aren’t a waste of time, let’s talk Borg vs McEnroe.
Many people, even if they don’t know much about tennis, probably know John McEnroe (Lord knows he’s been playing himself on TV and in movies for a good two decades now), and still some people might at least know the name of Björn Borg.
Beyond that, unless you’re a tennis-head, or a super trivia sports genius, you probably don’t know much about who they are, what they’ve accomplished, or the nature of their rivalry back in the day.
Borg vs McEnroe essentially distills it all down to their meeting at the 1980 Wimbledon Championships, when Borg was looking to earn his unprecedented fifth straight Wimbledon title, and McEnroe was looking to unseat Borg as #1 in the world.
Don’t worry though, the film isn’t all tennis; there’s a good amount of flashbacks and background material. In fact, I’m reluctant to even call it a “sports movie”, but that’s a whole other discussion.
The movie shines in many areas, especially production design and cinematography, but, truly, the binary stars of the film are Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf as Borg and McEnroe. They bring the fire and ice necessary to bring these men to life in a real way, and in ways that might challenge your perception of who they were at the time.
I was a bit on the fence about what rating to give this, especially because there’s a little bit of a third act problem in that I’m not sure the filmmakers knew how to make tennis exciting for a film, but, after some deliberation, I do think it’s definitively worthy of a theatrical viewing (assuming it’s still playing anywhere). The performances really carry the day.
Rating: ★★★★☆
