Greed

First Hit: Confusing movie about important subjects; income discrepancy, responsibility, and revenge.

I’m not very sure on how to write this review as the disjointed presentation of the subjects mentioned above left me wondering about the film’s intent.

At the end of the movie, next to still photos of the film’s scenes, we are given information about how clothing designers, companies, and sellers make billions of dollars of profit while the people who sew the clothing make as little as $2.47 for a 10-hour day of work.

The overall story follows Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan), Greedy McCreadie, as he’s referred to by many, from his high school days when he left school, focused on making money to his 60th birthday party. As we learn, he was always conniving someone to play cards or playing a game called find the queen. If not that he finds ways to buy something low and sell it high.

How he got into the fashion industry was more of an accident than a purpose. From a part-time endeavor, McCreadie excelled at the art of negotiating extremely low clothing manufacturing prices. Seeing an opportunity to make a lot of money with these skills, he decides to open a clothing store, and it becomes very successful. We see him in various scenes negotiating rock bottom prices. We also see the aftermath and conditions these workers work and live under given these negotiated low manufacturing costs.

The film’s plot centers on McCreadie’s preparations for a 60th birthday party that he’s giving himself in a Greek Beachside villa. We know it is expensive because he’s trying to spend less than £1,000,000 for entertainment. He’s also invited some celebrities, and because many cannot make it, he hires celebrity stand-ins. One funny bit has McCreadie looking at these stand-ins in the makeup room, and when he says, and you’re George Michael, the guy says “yes,” and McCreadie looks at his assistant and says, “well how’s that going to work, George Michael is dead.” They are also building a small version of a coliseum where there will be a gladiator scene with a real lion.

Then there are vital scenes showing McCreadie’s privileged ways by wanting the refugees who are living on a public beach removed because it won’t look good for the guests. There are scenes where a government agency is questioning McCreadie about his businesses, the number of bankruptcies he has gone through, how he has all his assets in offshore accounts and countries so he can live so well. In contrast, others that work for him or his manufacturers suffer.

Then there are the personal relationships. McCreadie’s son Finn (Asa Butterfield) hates him, as revealed, by his open discussion about killing his father. His ex-wife Samantha (Isla Fisher), is still very close with him, and as we discover early in the story, she care-takes much of his offshore money.

Lastly, the revenge component is shared through a couple of characters. All through the film, we track McCreadie’s official biographer Nick (David Mitchell), who is probably weak and influenced to write a positive book, as he is talking with family and party attendees.

One of the key people who is planning and setting up the party for McCreadie is Naomi (Shanina Shaik). We learn of her decades long dislike for McCreadie’s ways because a decision by him, got her mother fired. Naomi’s mother had to find another job and ended up in a factory that burned down where her mother suffocated to death. Naomi has a sincere dislike for McCreadie. Her unattachment from the revenge she gets is a fascinating subject that stayed with me for hours after seeing the film.

Coogan is rather good as this arrogant, self-aggrandizing, prick of a man.

The scene in which he chastises a color decorator in a new store location about the interior color and he holds up a Fuchsia sample is funny and sad. What’s precious about it is that later scene we revisit this store, and nobody wants to shop there because of the color. McCreadie rails at the staff, who pick this color? Fisher is compelling as the ex-wife who lays back and reaps the benefits of her ex-husband's ways. Mitchell is terrific as the hesitant biographer. In the end, his understanding of Naomi’s actions is well done. Shaik was probably the best in this film. Her compassion for the Greek children living on the beach, finding ways to make everything work, and her explanation for pushing the button was sublime. Butterfield was keen as the intimidated son who just wanted to be seen, heard, and respected. Sophie Cookson (as the daughter Lily McCreadie) was great as the daughter trying to live a Kardashian life by having her every moment filmed. The scene where she gives food to the homeless on the beach is so telling. Michael Winterbottom both wrote and directed this film, and I just didn’t think it came together well. The oddly timed switching between different scenes, McCreadie’s early life, the party, and being questioned in front of the government committee were not well placed. It came across as confusing.

Overall: There are good points made by this movie, but the confusing story made it difficult to piece it all together.

Tag

First Hit: Funny moments but it also felt like it was pressing for the laughs.

At the end of the film there’s shot of an old Wall Street Journal article showing about 10 men who were the subject of a story about a group of guys keeping a game of tag going for many years. This was the premise and storyline for this film.

The idea of a group of guys playing the game of tag into their 30’s and 40’s has a nice ring to it. It is easy to see that this game, which the group started playing when they were young boys, is a way for them to stay connected to each other.

The film touches on this, but sometimes, a bit too cavalierly and tries to go for the laugh and not a deeper story. My sense was that this game between these men, besides being fun, grounded them in their roots and where they came from. Having just gone to my 50th high school reunion, it was interesting to hear stories of my old class mates and what their path had been. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to keep two friendships together for over 55 years, and it’s been nice to connect with them every few months and to have been part of their lives.

Here we have Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy (Ed Helms), Reggie (LilRei Howery), Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm), Randy “Chilli” Cillano (Jake Johnson), and Jerry Pierce (Jeremy Renner) as five friends who have played tag together since they were young boys. As they got older, they set aside the month of May as tag month. Anytime during this month, the person who is “it”, can and will find one of the other guys and tag him. At the end of the month, the game ends for another eleven months.

The hook this film uses was that Jerry had never been tagged. Somehow, for more than twenty years, he’s been able to avoid being “it.” Hoagie learns that Jerry is getting married in May and thinks this will be the opportune time to tag him. He rounds up the rest of the gang to plot this once in a lifetime score.

The opening scene has Hoagie getting hired as a janitor in Bob’s company, so that he can surprise Bob, tag him, and then enlist him in the effort to get Jerry. This is how the storyline gets the Wall Street Journal involved because at the time Hoagie tags Bob, he’s being interviewed by Rebecca Crosby (Annabelle Wallis) who is a journalist interviewing Bob about his company.

There are funny scenes as this small group join forces to get Jerry, but the over the top performance goes to Anna Malloy (Isla Fisher), Hoagie’s wife. She is intense and focused to help Hoagie’s dream come true, getting Jerry. There is a reason for this and you’ll have to see the film to know why.

Helms is good as the guy who instigates the plan to get Jerry tagged. Howery was strong as one of the members who had his own way of participating. Hamm was very good as the successful business professional who sets aside his business for the sake of the game. Johnson’s role was a little off for me. I didn’t see the reason to have someone whose ideal life was being high on pot as a good plot device. Renner was excellent as Jerry. His intense and intelligent actions were good for this story. Wallis was OK as the Wall Street Journal reporter following the story. Fisher was perfect as the over the top wife willing to make the game happen for her husband and herself. Rob McKittrick and Mark Stellen wrote an OK screenplay, although I think it needed to not focus on generating a laugh. It could have been funny without resorting to physical site gags. Jeff Tomsic directed this film and would have done better to redirect the emphasis towards the friendship between these men.

Overall: I enjoyed the film but would  have rather had a more engaged full story.

Nocturnal Animals

First Hit:  Outstanding acting in a film that lives to the feeling of its name.

The opening credits are viewed on the backdrop of one of the oddest art displays I’ve ever seen. The display is of very large and overweight naked women dancing live. The rest of the exhibit is of live heavy women in various positions on platforms in the gallery.

The art gallery owner is Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) who lives with her husband in an amazingly large modern house in the LA/Hollywood hills. Her husband Hutton (Armie Hammer) is distant from her, appears to be wealthy, but also indicates there’s money trouble. His illusive and distant behavior points to something else going on in his life and then he abruptly tells Susan he has to go back to New York for business.

Susan receives a package from her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) and it is a book he’s written. She opens the book and sees that it is dedicated to her and the title, “Nocturnal Animal”, was Edward’s nickname for her. As she lies awake in bed, she begins reading the book hoping to help her sleep. However, the story is very intense and it peaks her interest immediately.

From here the film slips in and out of the book’s story, the present time of her reading the book, and past reflections of her former husband and their life together. The past story is about how much she loved Edward and finding that her mom, Anne Sutton (Laura Linney), may have been right that eventually Susan would seek out someone more financially successful and strong than Edward.

The book’s story is very intense as it describes Tony Hastings (Jake Gyllenhaal in a different role), his wife Laura (Isla Fisher) and daughter India (Ellie Bamber) being driven off the road during a road trip through Texas. The men shoving them off the road Ray, Lou and Turk (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Karl Glusman and Robert Aramayo respectively) are local miscreants known for having a slightly troubled past.

The story continues where they give the Hasting family a hard time and end up separating Tony from his wife and daughter. Eventually finding assistance, Sherriff Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon) takes the case to help Tony find his family. Finding them raped and killed, Tony is crushed while Andes makes it his focused mission to find the killers.

As the film slips from the present of Susan reading the book, to her memories of her relationship with Edward and then to the intense book she’s reading, you can tell that she’s unhappy with her current lot in life, and wants to accept an invitation offered to her by Edward to meet for dinner.

She says yes to the dinner invitation and doesn’t seemed surprised by the outcome.

I really liked the way this film moved between the three different sets and scenes. The coolness and sadness of the current time, the intensity and fury of the book’s story of Tony, and the ideal and joy in Susan and Edward’s budding relationship of the past. These stories and their settings were wonderfully choreographed and  delivered. Additionally, the  transitions between them were wonderfully done.

Gyllenhaal continues to deliver top notch performances. The way he delivers his two characters which have a common theme was excellent. This is an Award worthy performance. Adams, is divine. She’s perfect as the hauntingly beautiful “Nocturnal Animal”. Sitting in the theater, I could feel her struggle. Just as with her role in “Arrival”, Adams is showing everyone why she is so good. Shannon is really on his game here. I’ve really come to appreciate his work and here as an intense, "I don’t give a fuck" sheriff, he’s wonderful. He is this role. Fisher and Bamber were wonderful as Tony’s wife and daughter. I also loved how director Tom Ford used their red hair to tie in Adams’ character as well. It created connections and a tie between the book and Susan’s current life. Hammer was perfect in this small role. Taylor-Johnson, Glusman and Aramayo were great as the books antagonists and the way for Tom to express his rage and gain strength in the end. Linney is perfect as Susan’s well-healed mother. Her look and use of language was great. Ford wrote and directed this film with a clear vision for what he wanted. His effort is worthy for Award consideration to say the least.

Overall:  This is a dark moody, thriller that really worked.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

First Hit:  At times funny but it became more ridiculous as the story progressed.

The setup is that Jeff and Karen Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher), with their children, are a happy well-adjusted family in suburbia. He’s a human resources manager at a large company that employees much of the town. She’s a bathroom designer. Their boys have been sent to camp for the summer. An empty house near theirs is sold to the Joneses, Tim and Natalie (Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot respectively). From the beginning Karen suspects the Joneses are a bit odd and through some funny investigation, discovers they might possibly be spies.

The Gaffney’s continue their growing friendly relationship with the Joneses but their caution is rewarded and eventually the Gaffney's learn the truth about the Joneses. The rest of the film is how they team up to find out who, in Jeff’s company, is selling microchips to the enemy.

There are truly some funny bits, but then these behaviors get over played deflating the point of the behavior in the first place. The action scenes are OK but the car chase (Mercedes and motorcycles) was too long and not believable.

Galifianakis is funny and his behaviors that make him funny tend to be repeated more than needed. Fisher’s character is more interesting than Galifianakis by being inquisitive and less predictable. Hamm was solid as the undercover spy that wants his life to change. Gadot’s character was a little over done for me. More humor from her would have helped. Patton Oswalt was funny enough as Scorpion the villain. Michael LeSieur wrote a partially funny script but behaviors in scenes were repetitive. Director Greg Mottola had good actors but a script that failed to expand the story and characters.

Overall:  After watching the film, it is easily forgotten.

Life of Crime

First Hit:  Pretty much a waste of time.

This film was lifeless from the beginning. Mos Def playing Ordell Robbie (as Yasiin Bey) has a smile and attitude that belie his role, kidnapper.

Yes it was supposed to be a comedy but it wasn’t funny and his sly grin didn’t make it so. Mickey Dawson (Jennifer Aniston) was the person Ordell and Louis (John Hawkes) were going to kidnap. Why her? Her husband Frank (Tim Robbins) was stealing money from the city of Detroit and putting it in an offshore account. They believed he loved his wife and by kidnapping her they could extract the money from him.

What they didn’t know was that Frank was in the process of divorcing Mickey so he didn’t care that she was kidnapped. Frank was also having an affair with Melanie (Isla Fisher) with whom he wanted to marry just as soon as his divorce was settled. With a few mishaps; like a double cross, some misgivings, and newly found freedom, the audience was expected to be engaged with the characters I found it hard to care about any of them, let alone the story.

Aniston is a good actress, however her entire performance here seemed pained and phoned it. It was like she didn’t want to be there. Def was fun to watch but he seemed miscast or the film forgot it was supposed to funny as well. Hawkes was OK but again, when a film doesn’t work it is hard for actors to perform well. Robbins was OK but seemed to carry a level of aloofness throughout. Fisher was the best part of the film. She was really trying to make something of her character. Daniel Schechter wrote and directed this and it appears he’s got work to do to make a film that works because this one didn’t.

Overall:  This film just never clicked and didn’t work.