Their Finest

First Hit:  A very sweet and thoughtful film about making a propaganda film in World War II England.

The story takes place in London during war time and between the German buzz bombing. Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton) interviews for, what she thinks is, a secretarial position at the Ministry of Information only to discover she gets the job as scriptwriter for propaganda films. She needs to money as she is supporting herself and her, almost, husband Ellis Cole (Jack Huston) who is an artist and was injured in Spanish Civil War. She's not officially married to Ellis but wears a wedding ring and takes his name.

The British propaganda films, designed to motivate the population to work hard for the war effort, are not being well received. Fellow writer Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin) is hard on Catrin because she’s a woman and screenwriting is a man’s world.

However, he sends her on an assignment based on a newspaper article where twin women stole their father’s boat to go to Dunkirk to help save the lives of men. When Catrin interviews the women, she discovers that the boat stopped off shore. Never getting to Dunkirk, they did get wounded home because some of the boats that came from Dunkirk were overloaded and those boats gave them wounded personnel to take home.

The written article makes it more than what they did, but Catrin, Tom and the film making team make a variation of the adventure. The film uses an older famous actor Ambrose Hilliard (Bill Nighy) as part of the characters and as the only strong actor, he has ideas of how the plot and his part needs to go.

However, he begins to trust Catrin’s writing as she knows what she’s doing and when writing in concert with Tom, they excel.

What was interesting was this film also showed how important women were and their strength in helping the country defeat Germany. It also showed how people had to scale back their lives to support the war effort. I genuinely enjoyed watching Catrin watch the film she wrote and how the audience around her were engaged with the story. This was touching.

Arterton was fantastic in this role. Her reserved, yet expressive ways through the film created a wonderful character. Huston was good as the injured artist. Buckley was strong as Catrin’s fellow writer. His disbelief in women being able to write subtlety changing as the film enfolds was wonderful. Nighy was superb as the aristocratic and self-obsessed actor who comes to appreciate what he has. Gaby Chiappe wrote a wonderful screenplay, which unfolded with greater strength as the film went on. Lone Scherfig did a great job of directing this story and keeping the feel of the time and how films were constructed in the 1940’s just right.

Overall:  I was surprised by how much I liked and felt this film as it moved along.

Snatched

First Hit:  The film never seemed to find its purpose and the pre-release hype of comedic fun was far more than the reality.

Emily (Amy Schumer) is an unhappy desperate woman. When she gets dumped by her up and coming rock and roller boyfriend Michael (Randall Park), she must find someone to go with her to Ecuador on a non-refundable vacation. None of her friends like her enough to go with her, so she asks her mom Linda (Goldie Hawn). Linda is very security oriented and is afraid of going but gets convinced to go.

One would think that two gifted comediennes together in a film could make the circumstances of being kidnapped funny, but they don’t. Yes, there are a few lighthearted and funny moments  and scenes, but mostly it is a poorly constructed action film with attempts to make it funny.

It just didn’t work and wasn’t believable in any way, shape or form. When they meet Ruth and Barb (Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack respectively) this film might have taken a more comedic turn, however the film only used them in the end.

The bits with Jeffery (Ike Barinholtz), who was Linda’s son, were supposed to be funny. But his house bound character was poorly constructed, not believable and insipid.

Schumer was not funny and certainly not very good as an action figure. Not sure if it was the script or direction but this film failed her, or she failed the film. Hawn was worse. I have watched Hawn from the mid 1960’s and I’ve never seen her more constrained and out of place. This was not the right role for her. Sykes was OK and did her best to bring some excitement and comedy to this film. Cusack was the best thing in the film. Barinholtz was very poor and did not make his role believable. Katie Dippold didn’t write a comedic film. It was a lost action film with comediennes in the lead roles. Jonathan Levine directed this mess and did it no favors by not driving this film to either action or comedy because this didn’t work this way.

Overall: This film is mostly a waste of time.

Going in Style

Overall:  This film was enjoyable and its nice to see acting veterans ply their trade. Willie (Morgan Freeman), Joe (Michael Caine) and Albert (Alan Arkin) are three buddies who spent a lifetime working together in a manufacturing factory and live across the street from each other in Queens. They’ve all retired and are collecting their pensions.

However, the money flow has stopped and the bank wants to foreclose on Joe’s home. At the time, Joe’s daughter and granddaughter Brooklyn (Joey King) are living with him and he’s afraid to let them down as well as himself.

Albert and Willie are living together and have an interesting and supportive relationship. However Willie has a kidney problem that he’s not told his buddies’ about and he finds out that if he doesn’t get a transplant soon, he’s going to die soon.

They are all going broke so they decide to rob the very bank that has Joe’s mortgage and is managing the refinancing the sale and closure of the factory. They practice by robbing a local grocery store and it is hilarious. The stuffing of food in their jackets and pants followed by the getaway Joe and Willie make in an electric scooter and Al trying to out run a younger man lasting about 100 feet and gives up is very funny.

Donning Rat Pack masks they rob the bank of enough money to cover their pensions. Pursing them is FBI Special Agent Hammer (Matt Dillon) who suspects the three men and builds up a solid case. However, the guys have done their homework and have their stories and alibies down pat. The clincher comes during a line up when a little girl, who recognizes Willie, decides to protect him.

This film is about loyalty, connection, and family. To this end, it is very good as it has small side stories that make it work. There’s the story about how Willie gets his kidney, how the grumpy Albert gets involved with an admirer named Annie (Ann Margaret). The lodge buddy’s, Milton (Christopher Lloyd), odd view of the world. And finally, Jesus (John Ortiz) who shows these old guys the ropes to rob the bank.

Caine was wonderful, and my favorite scene was when he got angry and gave Jesus a piece of his mind. I could see the how Caine’s real and documented difficult scrappy upbringing was used to make this scene effective. I wouldn't want to mess with him. Freeman was gracefully effective as the selfless friend. He supports and takes care of Albert and doesn’t bother anyone with his critical kidney issue. He effectively portrayed his longing to see more of his daughter and granddaughter. Arkin is perfectly cast as the grumpy curmudgeon of the three. He’s the downer guy and doesn’t want his world mussed up much, however, when he’s in, he’s a force and gives it his all. Loved his interactions with Annie his admirer. King was fantastic as Joe’s granddaughter by being interesting, loving, and engaged making her grandfather proud. Margret was amazing as the woman who sees past Albert’s gruff exterior and wants to create something more. Ortiz was strong as the guy who teaches the “rat pack” how to rob the bank. Dillon was very good as the agent who knows who the robbers were and tries to build a case against them. Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Mitzi their favorite waitress was superb. She embodied the part perfectly. Theodore Melfi wrote a really good script and screenplay. Zach Braff had a great handle on the actors and screenplay. I think he knew exactly what he wanted and got everyone engaged to his vision.

Overall:  Although I think there could have been more laughs, this film was lighthearted and very enjoyable.

Wilson

First Hit:  At times out-loud funny but I wouldn’t have called it a comedy.

This film was a study of a man who was socially inept, neurotic, and brazenly honest with his comments to and about people. We find Wilson (Woody Harrelson) living in a messy apartment filled with paperback books. He’s got a sweet dog with whom he talks to and allows to run and act freely around the apartment. When he walks the dog, and people want to speak to the dog in a doggie voice, he insults them by mimicking the doggie voice the people use.

He despises technology and continually interrupts people who are wearing headphones. His only friend is moving away and Wilson blames his buddy's wife. Wilson gets a call from the hospital telling him his father’s heart is failing and dying. He visits the hospital and we see that Wilson didn’t get much acknowledgment or love growing up and although his father, lying there, was unconscious, the audience gets that Wilson’s statement was probably true. Then his dad dies.

Cloaked in confusion because he has no family his best friend is gone, although his dog sitter Shelly (Judy Greer) likes him well enough, he seeks to find his ex-wife Pippi (Laura Dern). There are some very out-loud funny scenes as he makes his way to find Pippi, including speaking with her co-worker. After a drink together, Pippi and Wilson start talking and as they talk, it becomes obvious why they were a couple and why they split up. When he asks her about the reasons for aborting their child, she tells him that she had the child and gave it up for adoption.

With a new mission to spend his energy on, he searches for and finds his now 17 year old daughter, Claire (Isabella Amara). Convincing Pippi to join him, they follow her to a mall where they introduce themselves.

His continued, no filter, behavior eventually gets him in trouble with the law when he takes Claire to meet Pippi’s sister Polly (Cheryl Hines). In this interaction we see part of the reason why Pippi struggles with her family as their judgmental ways are tough to be around.

Harrelson was good but I didn’t like the character much. I liked some of Wilson’s ideas and his directness, but cringed at the level by which his unfiltered communication with complete strangers (the bathroom urinal scene). Greer was wonderful and represented a calm place and person in Wilson's life. Dern was great. She embodied the frustration of not having the kind of life she wanted while acknowledging her own failures. Amara was wonderful as the confused daughter. Hines did a good job of being the perfect, antagonistic sister. Daniel Clowes wrote this screenplay from his own graphic novel and there is some speculation that Wilson’s behavior occasionally mirror’s his own. Craig Johnson’s direction was clear but the issue was it was neither funny enough to be a comedy nor was it dramatic enough to be just a drama.

Overall:  This film is entertaining enough, but it is mostly a study on how a maladjusted man finds he way through life.

The Last Word

First Hit:  I really enjoyed watching Shirley MacLaine, Amanda Seyfried, and AnnJewel Lee Dixon’s characters and interactions.

After seeing this film the other day, I read a couple of reviews about it and although I enjoyed reading their mostly negative views, I’m not in agreement with them.

What worked for me, was Harriet’s (MacLaine) obsessive compulsive behavior. Anyone that knows me, knows I have these tendencies. Therefore, I could easily laugh out loud at her statements and actions. I can understand other people not finding this amusing. I also liked the way both Anne (Seyfried) and Brenda (Dixon) could make their less overwhelming characters be seen, heard and integral to the story as well.

Briefly, Harriet is a wealthy woman living in a large meticulously kept home. The opening scenes see her as feeling forlorn and without purpose. She isn’t liking her life. She picks on her gardener while he cuts her hedges by telling him he’s doing it wrong. Her cook and housekeeper get supplanted preparing Harriet's meal when she steps in and starts cutting the vegetables. Sitting at the table with the meal, she looks at it and doesn't eat it because of her sadness.

When her futile attempt to kill herself fails thereby ending up in the hospital, she tells the doctor what he is saying to her is incorrect and demeans his ability. She’s outright rude to people. She glances at the obituary page in the local newspaper and realizes that she wants to have some control over what her obituary will say about her.

Storming into the local newspaper’s office she demands Anne, the obituary writer, write her obituary over the weekend. By giving Anne an alphabetical list of family and people she knows, she expects to see a wonderful orbit. As Anne does her research she discovers that nobody likes her. Her priest tells Anne that he "hates, just hates," her. Some of these interview scenes are very funny.

But as with most Hollywood films, we’re going to have a great ending. To get there the filmmakers have Harriet deciding to do some good things to redeem herself. One of them is to “help a poor unfortunate black or handicap” person. And into her life comes Brenda (Dixon), who is spunky, thinks the Dewy Decimal System is stupid, and has a fireball firecracker personality. As the film evolves, we get these three people learning to change who they are to become people they want to be. That’s what this film is about. Living closer to one’s truth.

I really enjoyed the scenes where the three of them interacted. The dynamic and different personalities were made for enjoyment: The pulling the “L” off the sign at her old advertising firm, the road trip, the swimming in the swimming hole, Harriet speaking with both her ex-husband Edward (Philip Baker Hall) and her daughter Elizabeth (Anne Heche), were all well thought out. I also really liked how alive Anne became when she was DJ’ing at the local radio station.

MacLaine was strong and there are few that could have made this role work as well as it did. Seyfried was excellent. Her understated strength was well intentioned in this role. She made her wall almost invisible yet clearly defined and prominent. Dixon was so much fun and created a wonderful energy throughout the film. It was a remarkable casting. Heche was perfect as the success oriented estranged daughter. Hall was strong as her former husband sharing his love for her. Stuart Ross Fink wrote a good script that had some clever lines and scenes. Mark Pellington did a good job of directing these three diverse characters. However, there were a couple of scenes, like the three of them walking with sunglasses on in slow motion, that were overdone and tried to be too clever.

Overall:  My own struggles with perfectionism were touched and laughed at while watching this film.