Room

First Hit:  A dark dialogue rich film with outstanding acting that portrays the inside horror of being held captive.

Ma (Brie Larson) is living in a soundproof shed and is being held captive there by “Old Nick” (Sean Bridgers).

She’s been held there for 7 years and has a 5 year old boy, fathered by Nick, named Jack (Jacob Tremblay). He has lived his whole life in the “Room” with Ma who has done her best to raise Jack. He knows little of the outside world but after turning 5, Ma begins to tell him what the world is really like outside the Room.

Jack is upset and wants to believe the stories Ma had previously told him about outside the Room. As Ma becomes more determined to find a way get Jack out of the room she comes up with a risky plan to fake Jack's death.

The remaining part of the film is about their adjustments to the real world. The inquisitive press, Ma’s rejection by her father, and Jack’s struggle to engage with all that the world outside the Room offers. The questions by the press push Ma into a deep depression because they intimate that she kept Jack as a way to save herself by not thinking of Jack’s well-being.

This is complex film and the acting by Tremblay is amazing and superb. The filmmaker did a great job of creating a sense of wonder through Jack as he sees the world outside the room for the first time.

Larson is very, very strong and deserves a lot of credit for making this film work. Tremblay is sublime. His slow transition from captive boy with a limited view of the world to engaged boy with an understanding of the world around him is fantastic. His ability to say goodbye to the “Room” was extraordinary. Joan Allen (as Ma’s mother Nancy) was very good. Emma Donoghue wrote a very strong script that felt very realistic. Lenny Abrahamson did an excellent job of directing the actors and creating scenes that felt true – especially the scene where Jack escapes in front of the man with the dog – the confusion, fear and concern were perfectly executed.

Overall:  This is a dark film and afterward I couldn’t help but think about the captured and imprisoned women we’ve read about in the last few years.

Taxi

First Hit:  Interestingly odd film by a filmmaker who is not allowed to make films in his country.

Jafar Panahi is an Iranian filmmaker who is banned from making films by his government. What the audience sees is film about the people who come into his taxi.

These people bring different social situations into the cab, share them and either get dropped off or transferred to another taxi. Part of the film is genius in showing how life is in Iran and also the repression of his art.

His passengers include a thief and an intelligent woman discussing a subject, a man who deals in bootlegged DVDs, a couple where the husband is hurt and the woman will lose everything to his family if he dies so she wants a testament that she gets everything, superstitious women carrying live fish to a sacred stream, his niece who wants to make a film but cannot show the one she’s made because a boy did not follow the religious laws of the country, and so on.

Although at times the voices and their intensity were grating (except his) at other times we are treated to interesting dialogue all while driving through the streets of Tehran.

Jafar Panahi is the only credit on the film and he’s interesting and very centered despite the chaos around him.

Overall:  The pros definitely outweigh the cons.

Truth

First Hit:  This struck home because of how two careers were ruined by the power of people in high position and the unwillingness to acknowledge the “Truth”.

I won’t talk about how this strikes home, and I will apologize ahead of time for any political bent this review may take. George W. Bush is protected here by his political strategists (see previous review of “Our Brand Is Crisis”) to divert the public from hearing the truth.

These strategist and doubt creators twisted enough controversy about the investigation towards Bush’s lost year (AWOL) of military service commitment that Dan Rather (Robert Redford) and Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) lost their jobs.

The story is how Mapes, a prize winning producer, discovers documents that indicate Bush went AWOL from his military duty. As she dug into the information it became clear to her and her team that this story was true, therefore CBS ran the story on 60 minutes with Rather telling the tale. The timing of this was crucial because Bush was running for President.

Bush’s team found ways to bring up questions about the information that was published. In pouncing on this, the pressure on CBS was enormous and they kowtowed to the bullies of government and sponsors who supported Bush. There was an investigation done and in the near last scene, Mapes tells the committee why they are wrong.

The most beautiful scenes are when Mapes and Rather are together talking. It is evident that there is a respectful father/daughter, mentor/mentee relationship built on mutual respect for each other’s work. When the brief and actual clips of Bush are shown, you see and feel the mealy small minded way Bush comments on his win - throwing up is an acceptable response.

This is what makes this film good; the mixture of relevant information and how it is presented. Just before the credits role, the audience gets to see that the research did not disprove Mapes’ story and that people’s lives were adversely affected by telling (or not telling) the “Truth”.

Blanchett is amazing in telling this story. I was captured by her character. Redford is perfect as Dan Rather. Topher Grace as researcher Mike Smith showed a lot of intensity – not sure it was needed. Dennis Quaid as Lt. Colonel Roger Charles, fact finder and conservative throttle for Mapes was strong. James Vanderbilt wrote a very strong compelling script and directed these fine actors and story is a clear honest way.

Overall:  I like this film because of the story it told.

Our Brand Is Crisis

First Hit:  With our own elections on the horizon, Sandra Bullock carries this film with an air believability and truth although, at times, it is a lackluster film.

This story is about political strategists and how they ply their wares. I’ve no idea whether how much truth there is in the underhanded way they operate but given what gets displayed in our US elections, it isn’t too far of a stretch to imagine people behind the candidates doing battle in this way.

Here Jane (Calamity Jane) as played by Bullock has been through the ringer. She has had some wins but had one huge loss because of the meanness of one of her opponents’ strategist, Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton). Candy is running a Bolivian presidential campaign for Rivera (Louis Arcella) and Ben (Anthony Mackie) and Nell (Ann Dowd) bring Jane out of retirement to beat Candy at his own game.

They want her to be the strategist for his opponent Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida) who has numerous flaws – including integrity. There are lots of scenes where the brooding Jane is thinking about the next thing to do, but when she coalesces the idea, she barks it out and everyone pays attention. It is in those scenes that had Bullock make the film interesting.

The film’s other fireworks (about 5 of them) are when Candy drops in, unscheduled, to speak with Jane. Bullock’s slow seething on Candy’s words are great. The other part of the film I was drawn to were the scenes of Sucre (capital of Bolivia). Not sure if they actually shot there, but the feel of the street scenes were very strong.

Bullock is the strongest part of the film. She makes her scenes interesting and compelling. Thornton is very good as the protagonist strategist. His snarky nature mixed with intelligence makes his character perfect for the role. Mackie is OK as is Dowd. Almeida is strong as marginally caring for the people and mostly caring that he wins the Presidency. Zoe Kazan as LeBlanc the ultimate information finder was wonderful. Peter Straughan wrote a good screen play. David Gordon Green had some directing highlights, (the debate, protest rallies, and scenes with Jane in the campaign headquarters room), but overall it didn’t feel held together as a strong story of which this could have been.

Overall:  This was less than the sum of its parts, but worthy of watching.

Steve Jobs

First Hit:  I liked the intensity brought forth in this film of Steve Jobs as played by Michael Fassbender and developed by writer Aaron Sorkin.

I’ve seen a number of Steve Jobs films and have read Walter Isaacson’s book and numerous articles about Steve and what works for me about this one, as a biographical drama, is that it takes 3 product launches and builds the Jobs’ persona and struggles around and through these launches. And although these launches probably didn’t have all the interactions shown this this film, it gives the audience a view of the man.

The often rumored Jobs' intensity and single mindedness is well represented in these 3 product launches: The issues and his responses around the demo’s not working, his distaste for Chrisann Brennan (Katherine Waterston) the mother of his daughter, his lack of acknowledgment, support and love for his daughter Lisa (Makenzie Moss – 5, Ripley Sobo – 9, and Perla Haney-Jardine – 19), the struggle with the Apple Board of Directors, his admiration and anger towards John Sculley (Jeff Daniels), the friendship and differences between himself and Steve Wozniak’s (Seth Rogen) view of their relationship and computers, and how much he depended on his Marketing Executive Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet).

Sorkin’s script is crisp and brings out many of Steve’s strengths and challenges while Danny Boyle’s direction puts all this on the screen in an interesting, dynamic way.

Fassbender is strong and intense in delivering the Jobs identity. Rogan is very good as Woz and the scene in the final product launch was excellent. Moss, Sobo, and Haney-Jardine, especially, were excellent as Lisa in their different ages. Daniels was outstanding as Sculley. Winslet was amazing as Hoffman and kept the whole film centered. Sorkin wrote an marvelous script and kept it focused. Boyle clearly did an excellent job of directing the characters through the script and scenes.

Overall:  I was fully engaged in this film and all the ups and downs experienced by each character.