Suburbicon

First Hit: A poorly conceived attempt to be relevant, darkly funny, and mysterious.

I generally like films written by Joel and Ethan Coen. I've previously enjoyed films directed by George Clooney. Actors Matt Damon and Julianne Moore always make roles better than they are written so I was looking forward to seeing this film. However, the mixture of this group didn’t resonate as something valid or comprehensive.

There were out-loud funny moments in a dark humor sort of way, but most of the time, the lack of information to string the film together had me a bit flummoxed.

Based in 1959, planned clean beautiful communities were sprouting up all over the United States. In Suburbicon there are two major stories. One, is about a black family moving into this all white neighborhood and how they are treated. Horribly is the answer to this part of the film. The second is how does Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) respond to being pressured to repay an outstanding loan? Not very well.

The set up to the neighborhood of Suburbicon is that this is an upcoming proactive modern community that allows everyone to be prosperous. Everyone can live there, unless you have a different skin color. That's what Mr. and Mrs. Myers (Leith M. Burke and Karimah Westbrook respectively) quickly find out. Each night neighbors gather around their home and shout racist epithets at the home. Each night, the crowd gets larger. And the Myers simply, elegantly, and clearly ignore the rants.

In a symbolic scene in the grocery store, the store manager stands behind the checker and tells Mrs. Myers that each item she wants to buy is $20.00, is pointedly outrageous; “bread? $20.00, Milk? $20.00.” Instead of raising her voice and acting out, with a smile on her face, she leaves the store to go shop somewhere else.

The upside of this aspect of the story is that the Myers' son Andy (Tony Espinosa) strikes up a great friendship with Nicky (Noah Jupe) who is Gardner and his wife Rose’s (Julianne Moore) son. They ride bikes together and play catch with a baseball together. Both boys are surviving their own private hell.

Gardner’s story is more elusive in that we don’t know why he’s in debt. We are introduced to him and his wife Rose, who is in a wheelchair, as they are being shaken down in their house by loan enforcers. His wife dies from the incident but we later learn that Gardner may have something to do with the death, just like he had something to do with her being in a wheelchair. Margaret (also Julianne Moore), who is Rose's twin sister is visiting them and helping to manage their household.

The way Gardner deals with the death of his wife, the inclusion of his wife's sister into the household, the moralistic and societal way he tells his son that he’s too young to understand what is going on in the family and the world, and how the violence is used to resolve his issues, just didn’t work well. There were too many unanswered questions nor was there a clear plot line.

There seemed to be an element of this film that was trying to be cutesy while also being edgy and it just didn’t work. Many of the sets were nice to see as they reminded me of growing up in that time period. I didn’t think the two major stories were integrated very well and certainly weren't well matched to make it work holistically.

Damon was OK and it wasn’t his acting that failed, it was mostly the script and Clooney’s poor direction of the poorly conceived script. Moore was OK in both roles and I thought the best part was her being interviewed by the insurance investigator. Westbrook was probably brought the best acting to the film. She embodied the role of smiling through the racist actions against her and her family. Jupe did a really good job as the son trying to figure out why his mom is gone, his dad is fighting people, and his aunt Margaret is living with them. Espinosa was very good as the neighbor kid who was attempting to put the racism behind him and just be a young kid. The Coen’s script had some bones but it wasn’t a good final product. Clooney just didn’t have a handle on a unifying theme and objective point to this film.

Overall:  Not worth the time to see it.

Money Monster

First Hit:  This film does not disappoint as it pointedly and powerfully touches on the themes of the day:  The struggle of the middle class, media’s (and social media) power to influence, the police’s response to a situation, and the rich manipulating the system for self-benefit.

Lee Gates (George Clooney) is an over amplified version of Jim Cramer’s afternoon program called “Mad Money” on CNBC.

In Gates’ daily program called “Money Monster” he uses sometimes crude, always flamboyant, and other over the top ways to share what he thinks is going on in the stock market. He’s got a huge following. His director is Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts).

The live show’s success is the combination of his unpredictability, verbal acuity, smarts, and unbridled flair as directed and in concert with her ability to know where he’s going with any particular point allowing the screen graphics to match Gate’s thoughts thereby maximizing the impact for the viewers.

Does Gates go overboard? Yes, and based on statements he made on an earlier show’s prediction for IBIS (an automated trading company), Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell) loses all his money. In fact, just about everyone who invested in IBIS loses their money.

Kyle is beyond angry, he wants answers and makes his way onto the set of Gates’ live show with a gun and a vest bomb which he forces Gates to wear.

This film is about: How Kyle comes to this breaking point. How Gates responds to this life threatening intrusion. How some people manipulate money for their own greedy purpose. How the public responds to this live, on air, real-time drama. How the police respond to Budwell’s dilemma. And about Kyle’s pregnant girlfriend Molly (Emily Meade); how does she respond to this event?

I won’t tell you how the film deals with all these questions except to comment on one: How the police respond. Waking up this morning after seeing the film last night, I’m still saddened by the reflective shoot first mentality of the police. We are bombarded these days with the police shooting people as a solution to many situations. There seems to be little room in their mantra to learn more about the situation and the people involved before shooting them.

In this film, from the get go, they (particularly one cop) had one focus which was to kill (“take him out”) Kyle. It isn’t that I didn’t understand their position, guy with gun sometimes aiming it at law enforcement officers, but their actions were heavy handed and reflected the large number of police shootings that cross our headlines every day.

Clooney is perfect as the narcissistic TV personality that masks a lonely life. His portrayal of Gates is wonderful because his caring true self wins in the end. Roberts was beyond fantastic. I thought she caught all the nuances of a TV director and someone who was willing to risk her life to do the right thing for all. O’Connell was amazingly strong as the semi-unhinged guy who just wanted to not be ripped off any longer. His life as a $14.00 an hour guy, who had just lost his mother, his strong willed girlfriend being pregnant, and his concern for how his baby would survive in this world was palpable in all his actions. His moments of confusion, reflection, humiliation, and clear path to wanting to get answers were spot on. Caitriona Balfe as Diane Lester the girlfriend of IBIS CEO and Chief Publicity Officer for IBIS was very good as her subtle shift of consciousness from stonewalling the public to leading the charge and find out what happened was well portrayed. Dominic West as IBIS CEO Walt Camby was well done. His manipulative version of, I’m lying through my teeth about our company being transparent, ran true. Meade as the fed-up girlfriend was powerful as her character pulled no punches. Lastly, Lenny Venito as Lenny the cameraman was perfect. Jamie Linden and Alan DiFiore wrote a wonderfully taut and biting screenplay that covered a lot of bases. Jodie Foster did an excellent job of directing this film. There were some outstanding moments and cuts that were really strong and moved this film along at the perfect clip while covering a lot of ground.

Overall:  This real-time film was perfectly acted, had a strong script and was elegantly directed by Jodie Foster - kudos.

Hail, Ceasar!

First Hit:  An odd film and despite the star power, lacks being interesting let alone good.

You’ve got Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Channing Tatum, and Jonah Hill, yet the only part that stood out for me was Jonah Hill as Joseph Silverman, the finance guy.

Brolin as Eddie Mannix runs a Hollywood studio and is in the middle of a career crisis. Clooney is the bankable star who gets kidnapped for money. Fiennes plays a highly respected and temperamental film director. Johansson plays a single pregnant star who does swimming films (think Esther Williams). Tilda Swinton plays two roles, twin opposing gossip columnists Thora and Thessaly Thacker. Frances McDormand as film editor extraordinary. Tatum was a dancing (think Astaire or Kelly) actor. The story is about the trials of running a studio, the communist edge of the 50’s, the behind the scenes stories about actors. There were some funny parts (Hill and Johansson).

Brolin was OK as the studio head, who had no time for his family. Clooney was fair as the kidnapped star who was highly influenced by his kidnappers. Fiennes was very good and the director stuck with an actor who couldn’t act. Johansson was mediocre as the swimming star. Swinton was good in her two roles. Tatum was OK as the dancing communist. Hill, in his minor role, was for me, the best part of the film. Joel and Ethan Coen both wrote and directed this film and I’m sure it sounded better as a discussion than written or filmed.

Overall:  Mediocre film through and through.

Tomorrowland

First Hit:  Interesting scope, parts that excelled, but overall this movie fails to deliver an engaging film from beginning to end.

The film’s early opening scenes included Casey, a truly curious smart girl (Britt Robertson), trying to hamper a rocket’s launch thereby keeping her engineer father employed. It also included Frank Walker (Young Frank played by Thomas Robinson and older Frank played by George Clooney) telling the story through two sets of eyes, the young curious smart boy and the wise old man who’s given up hope.

These three characters are pulled together by Athena (Raffey Cassidy); a robot created from the future whose mission is to find hope in the human race and give them the clue to the possibilities by giving out Tomorrowland pins.

The point of the film finally comes towards the end, when Nix (Hugh Laurie) gives a speech about how humans don’t care enough to fix the problems they are facing. The lavish way this film is presented is wonderful and engaging. The movie felt long which isn’t good and at 130 minutes, it was long.

Robertson was good and I felt that she did a great job of embodying her role. Robinson was cute and his early scenes were wonderful to watch. Clooney was good but there was something missing that kept me thinking “Clooney” and not about the role he was playing, Frank Walker. Cassidy was fantastic. I was fully engaged when she was on the screen, her way of being this robot was amazing. Laurie was a wonderful antagonist and his colloquy on the future was on target. Damon Lindelof and Brad Bird wrote a lengthy screenplay which is a commentary on how we are mortgaging our future and not paying attention to our self-created predicament. Bird did a great job of creating wonderful pictures of the now and the future, but it dragged on and could have used some snipping to tighten it up.

Overall:  A bit overblown, visually nice, but in the end not a very good film.

Monuments Men

First Hit:  Disappointing execution of what was probably a marvelous story.

The cast was stellar. The story was probably interesting. However the result was a disjointed, lackluster, and mediocre film. When you have; George Clooney (as Frank Stokes), Matt Damon (as James Granger), Bill Murray (as Richard Campbell), Cate Blanchett (as Claire Simone), John Goodman (as Walter Garfield), Jean Dujardin (as Jean Claude Clermont), Hugh Bonneville (as Donald Jefferies), and Bob Balaban (as Preston Savitz) there is an anticipation, if not expectation, of seeing a great film and story.

What hurt this story was that it seemed like a bunch of vignettes strung together to meet the end result of the story. Some of these side stories had me scratching my head and wondering why they were there, one such side piece was the dental work piece featuring Murray and Balaban. Couldn’t understand why it was important to show this.

Then there were the cutaway scenes following Damon when he first came to France, while riding in a cart - what was the point of showing these without some conclusion or reasoning? These are just a couple of moments in this film that just seemed to be there for no real reason or point. There were also awkwardly shot moments, like when Bonneville makes an attempt to kill a German, the whole scene was poorly conceived and executed.

This scene seemed like an afterthought. However, there were also touching moments, like when Damon and Blanchett were having dinner, or when Bonneville gives his thanks for a chance to prove his worth after his alcoholic ways.

Clooney as an actor here was OK, but his direction and screenplay contributions seemed lightweight or maybe he didn’t take this seriously enough. Damon was good, as always, but there wasn’t enough meat in the part to have him give a great performance. Murray appeared to be trying to make something out of nothing and when the audience sees this – it is disappointing. Blanchett was one of the best in her role as a mistrusting woman who finally believes the motive of the US forces. Goodman was OK, nothing special. Dujardin was somewhat interesting as he brought some European flair to the film. Bonneville was nothing special in a minimal role. Balaban seemed to capture the screen when he was in a scene which says something about his strong skills. Clooney and Grant Heslov wrote this screenplay and it seems that they were unclear about direction as was Clooney as director.

Overall:  This film was better as an idea than its execution. I left the theater disappointed.