Hello, My Name Is Doris

First Hit:  Sally Field (as Doris) steals this film and makes this story work very well.

Doris is in her mid-sixties, her mom has just passed away, she had lived with her mom most of her life, she’s a hoarder, and works in an advertising agency as a data input operator.

Into her work life walks in John Fremont (Max Greenfield), a new arrival from California. He’s in his mid-thirties, got dropped by his girlfriend, is kind, and in his new job/life he’s trying to fit in.

What doesn’t work about this film is that John is portrayed as too naïve about how Doris feels about him. However, what does work about this film is Field as Doris. She is so good that the audience is engaged and bought into the story.

Most of the film is about how Doris fantasizes about having a romantic relationship with a man half her age. However, it also speaks to aging, human kindness, hoarding, sacrificing for family, the modern workplace, older people, and finally, friends and family.

Although we are not introduced to Doris’ character gently, there is no compromise in her character and to be quite frank, it worked.

Field is beyond fabulous. She could be considered for a third Oscar next March. Greenfield was good but I couldn’t help but think about his lack of vision of Doris' intention. Tyne Daly as Roz, Doris’ best friend, was extremely strong. Her acceptance and friendship was perfectly played. Isabella Acres as Roz’s granddaughter Vivian was spectacular. Her befriending of Doris and helping her navigate Social Media was perfect. Laura Terruso and Michael Showalter wrote a very interesting and edgy script. Showalter did a great job of guiding and giving Field the freedom to deeply explore her character.

Overall:  This film was very entertaining and I loved Doris’ outfits.

10 Cloverfield Lane

First Hit:  I went from engage, to disappointment and disbelief, and finally to satisfied.

This film generated a range of feelings within me; from great story with belief and possibility all the way to disbelief while bordering on “give me a break”. In the end it does redeem itself.

The story begins with Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) packing up and leaving her apartment and life with Ben (voice of Bradley Cooper). Driving to an unknown location she gets into a car accident.

She wakes up chained to a bed with Howard (John Goodman) as her captor. He tells her that there has been an apocalypse in the world outside and he’s saved her by bringing her into his underground bunker.

Howard introduces her to Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) who, as she finds out, has chosen to be in the bunker. She hears cars and other noises above her, so she tries to escape only to find someone suffering outside the bunker.

At this point there are a lot of stories floating around in my head about where this film is heading. Then about 15 - 20 minutes before the end, I went into disbelief and disappointment about where the story has taken us, but at the end, I realized that I liked and believed the point of the story and how we got there.

Winstead is very strong as the everyday person finding her strength and being willing to move past her previous fears. Goodman is equally strong as someone who is definitely on his own agenda and belief system which may be true and skewed view. Gallagher Jr. was very good as the other person in the bunker. Josh Campbell and Matthew Stuecken wrote this story that almost fell off the rails. Dan Trachtenberg did a great job creating an intense environment in a closed space. The set was really good.

Overall:  This film was on the edge of falling over a cliff, but, in the end, stays upright.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

First Hit:  Although uneven in its execution, I liked the resulting story as a whole.

WTF has an appeal in a couple of ways. The title was interesting because it is what Kim Baker (Tina Fey) felt about her life. She was in an uninspired relationship with her boyfriend, her news reporting job is as tenuous as it is monotonous and she realized that she was sleepwalking through life. She’s given a chance to go to Afghanistan to report on a fading war.

The news focus is on Iraq and the US has troops in Afghanistan and her network wants someone there to get and report on the best news nuggets available. Kim decides to take the leap and almost immediately she regrets the choice. However, as you’d expect, she finds her sea legs and starts to dig for stories and eventually lands an excellent one by being embedded in one of General Hollanek’s (Billy Bob Thornton) units.

Unfortunately, we see Kim fall into the partying ways of her peers with no understanding as to why. Her friendship with Tanya Vanderpoel (Margot Robbie), one of the few other women in compound, seemed shallow.

The script attempted to make these two be good friends, but there was something palpable missing. Labeled as a "Comedy", there was very little that is funny about this film which added to the unevenness.

The notable components for me were:  The outstanding performance of Christopher Abbott as Fahim Ahmadzai, who was Baker’s interpreter. He really embodied a sweetness and intelligence of the culture and his performance stayed with me long after the credits. When Kim spoke with a group of Afghani village women only to find out that they were destroying the wells was another really good scene. However, there seemed little depth to Baker and this did drag the film down and made for some scenes that could have been cut.

The ending scenes, however, brought the film back together. Her meeting with Specialist Coughlin (Evan Jonigkeit) at his ranch was very heartfelt as was her bringing Iain MacKelpie (Martin Freeman), a lover from Afghanistan, on to her Washington news program.

Fey was uneven in her performance and I never really bought that she bought into the character. There seemed to be a slight disconnect at times. Other times her interpretation of the character worked well enough. Abbott was phenomenal, I so loved his character. His eyes said it all. Robbie was OK, but almost out of place based on her character and the situation. Freeman was strong as the guy who found a home in being a photographer in a war torn country. Thornton was perfect as the Marine General who was a sarcastic, tough, and compassionate leader. Jonigkeit was excellent as the Marine who suffered and grew from the experience. Alfred Molina as Ali Massoud Sadiq was another bright spot in the film. Robert Carlock and Kim Barker wrote the screenplay based on Barker’s account of being in Afghanistan. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa directed the film and as I’ve learned; when there is more than one director the chances of unevenness are more available and pronounced.

Overall:  Through the unevenness the ending and a few other great scenes made it work well enough.

Triple 9

First Hit:  This is a somewhat complicated slow-build up film with a satisfying ending.

“Triple 9” is police code for Officer Shot/Down.

In Atlanta when this call comes over the police radios, all units head to the scene above everything else. This is a critical piece of the plot of this film as we have crooked police officers Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie) working with former federal agents Michael Atwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Gabe Welch (Aaron Paul) to obtain hard to get items for a Russian Jewish syndicate led by the crime bosses’ wife Irina Vlaslov (Kate Winslet).

First they obtain a safe deposit box by robbing a bank and then the get a file box from a NSA secure location. There are additional complications because Atwood has a child with Irina’s sister Elena (Gal Gadot) and both he and Irina use the child to get something they want.

Looking into the robberies and internal issues with the Atlanta Police force are Jeffrey Allen (Woody Harrelson) and Chris Allen (Casey Affleck). The way this film unfolds the story is strong in that it gives you bits of the story and then bits of the characters as it fills out each in the end. The direction was strong and many of the scenes, and ways they were shot, were compelling.

Collins ended up being an intense critical component of this film. When he said he had no issue with a 999 you felt he meant it. Mackie was strong, portrayed a coldness in his police work while occasionally breaking into showing his heart in his role. The development of the partnership with Chris Allen was excellent. Affleck, as Allen, was very good as the no-nonsense brash new guy on the Atlanta force with the balls to move things forward. Ejiofor was very good as the father who was going to, in the end, exact the price for the betrayal of the Russian mob. Winslet was truly a surprise and not a surprise. She played the role of female matriarch and mob leader to perfection. Harrelson was odd and compelling as the strung out police detective who, in his own way, wanted the right thing to happen. Paul was strong as the disintegrating member of the team. His drug use and internal pressure had him spiraling downward. Luis Da Silva Jr. as Luis Pinto was great as the leader of a Latino gang. He showed great presence and a set of cojones when it came towards the police. Matt Cook wrote a very strong script. John Hillcoat did a good job of directing this complex story and creating a solid story and characters.

Overall:  This was a strong film with a few very strong performances.

Race

First Hit:  What a wonderful story of a man whose greatness and perseverance had him rise above and over race and discrimination.

Jesse Owens (Stephen James) was one of the greatest Olympic track and field athletes the United States has ever had.

Raised when racial discrimination was still a huge issue in the US, learning to ignore the external noise, and do what he did best made this story even more phenomenal.

The story follows Jesse, his depressed father, supportive mother and Ruth Solomon (Shanice Banton) his girlfriend and mother of his daughter, as he finds is way through all the external noise to greatness. Guiding him along the way was his Ohio State University coach Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis).

One of the most powerful lesson delivering scenes was when the track team was in the locker room when the OSU football team comes in and demands that the track team leave, especially because of Jesse and other blacks on the track team. While the football coach is yelling at Larry and the football team yelling at the track team to leave, Larry is speaking about how concentration and listening to one voice, his voice, is how Jesse will be able to persevere against all the racial noise he’s going to get as he races.

During all the yelling, all of a sudden you hear the coaches voice say to Jesse, do you understand? Do you hear me? And the noise drops away from Jesse and hearing his coaches voice above the loud arguing, he says “Yes, I hear you coach.”. It is a wonderful scene and serves Jesse well especially when he goes to the 1936 Olympics and 110,000 people are yelling at him.

As he shows his greatness, the crowd becomes unified with him. It is a great story.

James is outstanding as Jesse. He plays him with humble awareness of doing well and honoring himself as a person. Sudeikis was great as the occasionally sarcastic, caring, and wonderful coach. Banton was wonderful as Jesse’s fiancé and then wife, making sure Jesse makes his own choices. Jeremy Irons was fantastic as the inimitable Avery Brundage. David Kross as Jesse’s Olympic long jump German rival Carl ‘Luz’ Long was great. Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse wrote a wonderfully engaging script. Stephen Hopkins did a wonderful job of directing this film and the shots of Jesse entering the Olympic stadium for the first time were especially effective.

Overall:  This was a wonderful biography of a man who stood heads above the fray of racial injustice.