What They Had

First Hit: Touching, poignant, funny, and unless you’ve been near the subject it might be difficult to understand this story.

This film is about he hard choices some families must make about putting parents into assisted care.

We begin with Ruth (Blythe Danner) getting up, putting on a robe and walking out the front door. The ground is covered with snow, there’s no one on the streets and she heads down a empty snowy street to get to somewhere in her past. Her husband Bert (Robert Forster) wakes up some time later, notices his wife is not in bed, gives a slight here we go again look that quickly turns to caring concern, and he bolts out the door looking for Ruth.

He calls his son Nick (Michael Shannon) who lives nearby, who in turn, contacts his sister Bridget (Hilary Swank). Nick goes out searching for his Mom, while Bridget flies back to her home town to see if she can help. Ruth has increasing stages of dementia and it is getting more difficult for Bert, who has a bad heart, to manage and care for his wife, but he’s stubborn. Nick, being close by, wants to get his mom into a care facility and his father into assisted living. Bert is vehemently resisting this sort of move. Compounding this is that Bridget has power of attorney and rarely there to see what Nick, Bert, and Ruth go through.

A subplot to the main story is that Bridget is in an unhappy marriage and has huge communication issues with their daughter Emma (Taissa Farmiga). Emma has been doing poorly in college, wants to quit and her parents are pushing her to continue.

Bridget and Emma fly back together so the audience knows this sub-plot will get attention as well.

The scenes between Bridget (aka Bitty) and Nick are dynamically interesting and full of great dialogue. Their interaction when they agree and disagree is right on target. I especially liked how Nick finally tells Bridget that she’s out of touch with their parents and how exhausted he is being an upscale bar owner and the “go to” person when there is an issue with Ruth—and there’s always an issue.

Bridget tries to be a mediator, trying to find a middle path but ends up alienating both Nick and Bert. When she has a huge argument with her dad about assisted care, she finally tells him that he’s never listened to her or asked what it is she’d like in life, including her marriage. This was an excellent scene because she was doing the same thing to Emma, not asking what Emma wanted and ignoring her.

Bitty’s clumsy attempt at a flirtation with an old high-school friend was excellent. I loved how he charged her an enormous amount for changing the locks. Bitty’s surprise look was perfect.

This film has a lot to say about how families navigate through the emotions and practicalities of a loved one with dementia.

Swank was excellent and teamed with Shannon had great scenes of brotherly and sisterly love and frustration. When Swank climbs into bed with Emma, a wonderful softening takes place. Shannon was excellent as the brother who was showing up and doing his best. That his father had no respect that he was a bar owner (“…you tend bar don’t you, you’re a bartender…”) and ran his own business was perfect. I especially loved when Bert finally came to see the bar and ordered a martini. Danner was amazing as Ruth. She really captured the look and sense of someone who had forgotten who her husband was and then would remember everything. She segued from one state of presence to another with sublime clarity of the role and the disease. Forster was excellent as the stubborn husband and dad that knows best about everything. When he gets up and realizes that Ruth has left the house, there is a quick moment of, shit not again look, that segues into I care and have got to find her. This quick set of expressions was perfect. Farmiga was very strong as Emma, the troubled daughter that wasn’t being heard by her parents and she’d had enough of living their expectations for her. Elizabeth Chomko wrote and directed this wonderful glimpse into a family struggling with how to deal with a loved one’s battle with dementia.

Overall: This film is not everyone’s cup of tea, however, it is an excellent film about a real issue many families face.

Wildlife

First Hit: Finely crafted story about a young man coming into his own while witnessing a failing marriage.

This was actor Paul Dano’s directing debut and he nailed it. When creating a complex, stylistic, story that depends on his actors' ability to convey a story, it’s important that the director get the most out of subtle yet powerful story.

It also is a benefit if the director has actors that can make the story come alive. In Wildlife, we watch Carey Mulligan (playing wife Jeanette Brinson), Jake Gyllenhaal (playing husband Jerry Brinson), and Ed Oxenbould (playing son Joe Brinson).

Jeanette and Jerry are a struggling to survive couple in Montana. It’s in the 1960s and they’ve moved there in hopes of bettering their life. Jerry has had problems keeping jobs and here he works for a golf course, but the owner thinks, as an employee  he’s overstepped his boundaries with customers. They fire him, and his despondence is in direct conflict with his natural ability to be friendly, optimistic, and ability to look for the upside. He's confused and hurting.

He and Jeanette help Joe with his homework because the moving from place to place has made it difficult for Joe to find traction in school. But as this story evolves Joe gets to grow and learn about himself and in this film, we see this slow, sure transition.

Jeanette, who has the second most screen time must find her place in life. When Jerry leaves them to fight fires because he needs to find some work. The tension in the family starts to really show when Jerry leaves to go fight fires. Jeanette, unhappy with his decision, finds work for herself and also begins to change her unsatisfied life. While teaching people to swim she becomes close with Warren Miller (Bill Camp) who is one of the more successful men in town. Looking for some security in her life, she begins to flirt with Warren.

Joe, watching all this, is confused. Getting a job as a photographer’s assistant, he begins to learn something about himself and his place in the family. Some of the conversations with his mom are very revealing in that they show how unsure Jeanette is about what to do as a parent and what will make her happy. When she asks Joe, if he likes his name, I thought the question alone was revealing.

The pacing of this film could use some help, but because the acting was so strong by all four main characters the uneven pace was easily overlooked.

Mulligan was excellent. This was a wonderful and revealing role for her. It showed extraordinary depth. Gyllenhaal was wonderful as the husband. His internal agony and outward optimism was wonderfully balanced. His loud outburst in the kitchen during one of their fights was jarringly perfect. Oxenbould was amazing as the young boy watching his family fall apart. His concern for his father, and love and support for his mom were wonderful. But watching his subtle growth in this story was perfect. Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan wrote a strong script, capturing small town 60s perfectly. Dano got excellent work from his actors.

Overall: This was an excellent, strong, and delicate film.

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Hit: Accurate or not, this film was fun, well-acted, engaging, and joyful.

Like many, I liked and enjoyed much of Queen’s music. The song Bohemian Rhapsody was one of those songs that broke new ground and confounded music executives. The development of having the audience be the music by stomping twice and clapping once in “We Will Rock You,” was brilliant. It became part of their anthem. And finally, “We Are the Champions” is a song that continues to be used world-wide by sports teams as well as lots of other groups.

This film’s focus is on Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek). Born with four extra incisors, his teeth gave him a unique look. His family’s religion, Zoroaster, gave him a homelife that was restrictive and eventually he changed his name from Farrokh Bulsara to Freddy Mercury to help him distance himself from his family and background.

The scenes when the band is figuring out songs together spoke a lot about how they co-created their music. They were misfits together as a group, and they claimed that much of their audience were the misfits in the world.

Freddie grew up confused about his sexual orientation. He did fall in love with Mary Austin (Lucy Boyton) who became his wife, ex-wife, lifelong friend, and supporter. It was with Mary that you could see Freddie relax and not need be “on.”

What made this film work was the music and how the band was always there for the music.

Although, there are misrepresentations in this film about Freddie, when he contracted AIDs, that wasn’t the point, it was about how this group of men worked together to create music together. It was about how Freddie represented Queen as their front man, and that they were a team of musicians.

Malek was sublime as Mercury. Although he didn’t actually sing any of the songs, he lip-synced perfectly while capturing the grandiose way Mercury was the front man for Queen. Boynton was excellent as Mercury’s female love. Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, and Joseph Mazzello were extraordinary as Queen band members Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon respectively. Anthony McCarten and Peter Morgan wrote a wonderful story. Bryan Singer made this story come alive, but I’ve got to say, the music is the star right behind Malek.

Overall: Thoroughly enjoyed the power of Queen’s music and to add great acting by Malek and the band helped even more.

Colette

First Hit: With the empowerment of women being in the forefront, it was great to watch Colette take charge of her life.

Colette (Keira Knightly) becomes enamored by Willy (Dominic West) who is somewhat of a blowhard male chauvinist who disrespects everyone except anyone who has more money or prestige than him.

He contracts with people to write stories, books, and plays for him and because of his spending and gambling habits, he's always in debt. After their marriage he continues to have affairs with scores of women in Paris, which infuriates Colette but more for the lying than the affairs themselves. Because they are pressed for money, he locks Colette into a room to make her write for him.

She writes books that become the talk of Paris. Everyone loves the books and Willy, the supposed author, becomes the talk of the town. Setting social and artistic trends, Willy and Colette become enamored with their life. But, tension begins to percolate because Colette is the real author of the books and no one knows.

What I really liked about this movie is that Knightly, as Colette, is definitely in her element. Her natural wit and intelligence was never a match for Willy or Georgie Raoul-Duval (Eleanor Tomlinson), Collette’s first lesbian relationship.

Knightly was superb. Her airiness and ease of sharing a strong Colette was sublime. West was excellent as the overbearing chauvinistic husband and ego driven writer. Fiona Shaw was perfect as Colette’s mother supporting Collette’s independence. Denise Gough playing Missy, Colette’s supporter and romantic lover. Tomlinson was wonderful as Colette’s first lesbian lover who was also Willy’s lover. Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland wrote a pointed and well-defined screenplay. Westmoreland did a good job of setting up wonderful scenes and sets that exemplified the era of the late 1800’s.

Overall: Using Knightly was inspired casting choice as she brought a lot of life and intelligence to this role.

Beautiful Boy

First Hit: A very personal film about a parent’s deeply felt and dark journey through his son’s addiction.

Despite excellent acting, especially on Timothee Chalamet’s part as the son Nic, this isn’t a joyful film. For anyone who has experienced addiction or has been a parent of an addicted child, it is not an easy film to watch. Its title comes from a John Lennon song about his son Sean.

The story is from the perspective of David Sheff (Steve Carell), Nic’s dad. The film jumps time confusingly but it is clear when we are watching their relationship grow and Nic is a child. David is married to Karen (Maura Tierney) but she’s not Nic’s mother. David divorced his first wife Vicki (Amy Ryan) who ended up moving to Los Angeles. There are telephone conversations between Vicki and David that are realistic in that each parent is blaming the other for not doing enough for their son’s struggle.

Confusingly we dance forward and backward in time through instances of Nic’s addiction behaviors and fiascos. I’m not sure why it was done this way, but when I have to figure out what point in time the scene is referring to, I’m not engaged and dislike having to piece the story together. I get turned off.

However, on the up side of the film, Chalamet does a great job of being an addict. His arguments and persuading his family and others to do what he wants, including giving him money, is spot-on.

There are numerous scenes that expose everyone’s engagement and caring for Nic and this is commendable.

Carell is strong as the father that will do anything to help his son. When he learns to let go, I breathed a sigh of relief because, to survive he had to let go. Chalamet was excellent. His scenes of sliding back into wanting to use again were perfect. Ryan was fantastic as the mother who cared, yet knew nothing about what to do, or how to do it. Tierney was sublime. She showed empathy towards David, cared about Nic, and loved her children. The scene when she follows Nic and his girlfriend after robbing her home, was wonderfully developed and executed. Luke Davies and Felix Van Groeninger wrote a good, if at times, confusing script. Groeninger’s direction needed to be better given the times shifts that caused confusion.

Overall: Deeply personal film that will not be everyone’s cup of tea.