Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine

First Hit:  A very interesting and accurate view of Steve and his relationship to the people at Apple and his life.

I had a working relationship with an employee who worked very closely with Jobs in the late 1990’s. A few of the stories he told about both Steve’s brilliance and tyrannical behavior were reflected in this film.

What I liked most about this film is the way the makers weaved a way to show both. What I was disappointed about was there wasn’t much about his relationship with Steve Wozniak and his early on main rival,

Bill Gates. However, the dramas that were only briefly referred to including; the 5 other CEOs like John Scully whom Jobs thought almost ruined Apple, were mildly sufficient. The famous product reveals were covered well and was his struggle with owning his paternity of his first daughter Lisa.

Many of the interviews were revealing and when one person, who was a lead engineer on one of  Jobs' projects, lost his wife and family to the effort he gave jobs, I could really feel his pain - so did he.

Alex Gibney did a very good job of piecing together archival footage and recent interviews with friends, others, and family.

Overall:  This was a very interesting film about a driven man.

A Walk in the Woods

First Hit:  Enjoyable, interesting at times and funny – it was “A Walk in the Woods”.

This film has two veteran actors past their prime, showing why they still have something left in the tank.

Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) and Stephan Katz (Nick Nolte) are two old friends who’ve not seen each other for quite some time. Bryson gets an idea that he needs to change something in his life and decides to walk the Appalachian Trail (From Georgia to Maine).

His wife Catherine (Emma Thompson) doesn’t want him to do this, thinks he’s too old and makes a stipulation that he has to do this with someone. He calls lots of people and everyone turns him down, except Katz who wasn’t asked directly but heard it from a mutual friend. He’s interested because he has arrest warrants out against him and this will give him some relief from those worries.

The characters are clearly defined, Bryson refined, well spoken, and intelligent, while Katz is rude, crude, and well worn. But during the walk we see their likeness and learn of their history together. All the while each is walking in this beautiful part of the country for their own reasons.

They meet people along the way that supposedly challenge their beliefs, but only one, hiker Mary Ellen (Kristin Schaal), challenge them as a team. I never got a solid clear feeling as to why Bryson did the hike in the first place but it probably wasn’t important.

Overall, Redford was strong and was perfect to play this reserved controlled character. Nolte has had a lot of hard miles on him and was perfectly cast in this role because his character called for his background. Thompson was effective in her small role. Schaal was perfectly annoying and wonderful in her role as fellow hiker. Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman wrote a good screenplay that effectively highlighted these two disparate characters. Ken Kwapis got a fair amount of great scenes from these two, but some of the scene sets were obviously done in a studio.

Overall:  This was a very enjoyable film.

Grandma

First Hit:  Most of the time it was creatively funny and interesting while being topical.

Lily Tomlin (Plays Elle Reid – the grandmother) is in one of her finest moments as an actress. It allows both her acerbic and humorous qualities to exist in the same person while making sense.

Her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) arrives at her home looking for help. She’s young, pregnant and without the money she needs to have an abortion scheduled for later that day. Elle doesn’t have the money either and although Elle’s daughter and Sage’s mother Judy (Marcia Gay Harden) has money, neither want to ask her.

The story aims to help bridge this gap between grandmother, mother and daughter. Elle is also a lesbian and her live-in lover Olivia (Judy Greer) who is getting the boot early on in the film, provides another side of the story and the complexity of Elle’s life is slowly revealed as the movie unfolds.

Although complex, the story is also simple and gives the audience enough to think about as the story unfolds. This is one of the strong points of the film. Additionally, many of the shots of Sage and Elle driving in the vintage car are precious as was the interaction between Elle and her former husband Karl (Sam Elliot).

Tomlin is fantastic and makes the emotional wise role work well. Garner is a star in this film. She’s both angelic and vulnerable. Harden is strong in her small role. Greer’s perfect in her small and pivotal role. Elliot is absolutely divine as the former husband. Paul Weitz wrote and directed this insightful, funny, poignant film.

Overall:  This film has staying power after watching it.

Mistress America

First Hit:  At times this film was really funny, however the point and feeling weren't lasting or memorable.

This is one of those films that can be entertaining and funny while watching it and it soon fades from memory. Tracy (Lola Kirke) is in college. She’s timid in the world.

She’s a writer and has little confidence in her writing, her ability to attract men, and has few friends. Her soon to be sister by marriage, Brooke (Greta Gerwig), lives in NYC and Tracy meets her for the first time. Immediately she discovers that Brooke is almost the opposite of her. Outgoing, confident, and connected with lots of people.

The humor is the way Brooke operates in the world and how Tracy reacts. Brooke spends most of the film trying to open a restaurant, meeting with people for its financing, spends time with friends where she is life of the party. She also has 100 new ideas a minute and one gets the sense she has a difficult time implementing the ideas.

The developing relationship between the two women helps Tracy gain confidence in herself and allows her to assert herself in the world and in her life. Some of the scenes, like when Brooke meets with investors, were effectively staged and well done.  

When Brooke and Tracy meet Brooke’s former lover, now married to Brooks former friend, was a little pushed at times and I’m not sure having the pregnant lady hanging around added anything except an occasional laugh. Some of the dialog was excellent and was both spiritual and anxiously shallow at the same time.

Kirke was good and very engaging at times. Gerwig was almost too aloof but created a strong character. Michael Chernus (as Dylan) and Heather Lind (as Mamie-Claire) were strong in their parts as former friends and lover. Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig wrote, at times, an insightful and funny script. However, it did get a little convoluted the rest of the time. Noah Baumbach did a good job keeping the odd story interesting and aimed to a conclusion.

Overall: This was an Interesting and forgetful film.

No Escape

First Hit:  It was an OK story with better than average acting.

The Dwyer family moves to a country bordering Vietnam (could have been Cambodia or Laos). Jack (Owen Wilson) is moving his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and two girls Lucy (Sterling Jerins) and Beeze (Claire Geare) to their new home because it is the only job he can get. The job, he believes, is helping the country’s water purification system and so he believes he's doing good for others.

On the first night, a coup breaks out killing the country’s Prime Minister. The ensuing chaos has the rebel citizens killing foreigners, especially anyone who is associated with the water company Jack works for. The rebels attack the hotel, killing almost everyone and now Jack and his family are in danger of being killed.

The rest of the film has the Dwyer family running for their lives and being assisted by Hammond (Pierce Brosnan) who is an English intelligence agent. The scenes of the streets and alleyways in this unnamed city are perfect. All of them had the right feel. Having spent a lot of time in Asia, I was happy to not see manufactured vistas or an inaccurate beautified view.

I thought the plot needed a little working, by providing a little more background of the coup as well as the Jack’s previous work. I did think the director created the right amount of intensity in this full movie chase. The most insightful scene to mark Jack and Annie’s relationship was when Annie, being sad and unhappy, tells Jack that she cannot help him feel better about their being away from their Austin home.

Wilson was good, although there were a couple of moments, I sensed his laissez faire persona creep through. Bell was superb. I thought she held the film together. Jerins and Geare were really good and realistic in their roles. Brosnan was amusing in his role and it worked. John Erick and Drew Dowdle wrote the script. As previously mentioned, I thought there were strong points and some missing background. John Erick Dowdle directed this films and given the probable limited budget did a great job of creating intensity.

Overall:  The film was entertaining and Bell was the strongest of the characters.