The Edge of Seventeen

First Hit:  This is a wonderfully full and expressive film about growing up.

The opening scene sets the stage. Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) bursts into Mr. Bruner’s (Woody Harrelson) classroom at lunch, sits across from her teacher and tells him she’s going to kill herself. His response is priceless as is most of his dialogue with Nadine.

As the audience starts to understand her current crisis, you see that she doesn’t think much of herself, has very low self-esteem, and the film shows a myriad of scenes being alone through childhood. Her best friend, as a young girl, is her father (Tom – played by Eric Keenleyside) who can make her laugh and see the bright side of things. And if all else fails there might be a cheeseburger in her future.

Finally, she meets Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) who becomes her fast-best friend. They do everything together and the scenes of her father watching Nadine and Krista exploring the world together makes him extremely happy.

Unexpectedly her father dies and Nadine takes this loss very hard. Her mother Mona (Kyra Sedgwick) and brother Darian (Blake Jenner) become Nadine’s foils and rescuers. Darian is a perfect son, excels in everything thing he does, and shows up to his family in every crisis. It is a lot for a young man in high school. Mona, does her best as a slightly scattered mother, holding down a job and being head of household.

Nadine is socially awkward and the scenes where she attempts to connect with others are wonderfully staged. Krista helps her to smooth out the rough edges and accepts her fully, but when Darian shows a romantic interest in Krista, Nadine falls apart. She cannot stand her perfect brother in his perfect life and now he has her best friend as well.

Have you ever accidently sent a text you didn’t mean to send? The engagement of this and other angst stories, real or not real, are part of the fascination of this film. One thinks that Mr. Bruner may not care, but that isn’t true. The belief that Darian has a perfect life, gets tossed in the air as he goes to rescue Nadine and their mom, yet again. Krista must learn to accept and balance her friendship and love interest with non-attachment and acceptance. And of course, there is Nadine, who slowly learns to see the coolness and honest sweetness in Erwin (Hayden Szeto) as he shows her his interests in life.

Steinfeld is utterly fantastic. This is her film and she is “The Edge of Seventeen”. She may get an award nomination for this role and in my book, she earns it. Harrelson once again shows why he is one of the very best character actors we have today. He’s perfectly poignant in how he can be perceived as not caring, but really does care. Keenleyside is wonderful as Nadine’s dad in this brief but effective role. Richardson is wonderful as Nadine’s best friend. Loved the balance and acceptance she brought to the character. Jenner is equally wonderful in his role as the brother. He’s committed to his family and yet he’s striving for his life as well. Sedgwick is perfect as the harried loving mother who is doing her best to survive tragedy of loss and hold her family together. Szeto is an amazing find and gives a wonderful performance as another socially awkward young man trying to find his way. Kelly Fremon Craig wrote an amazing script and, with a great feel for the angst of a young teenager, directed this fantastic cast to deliver a great film.

Overall:  I was really taken away in this coming of age story.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

First Hit:  A bittersweet story about war hero Billy Lynn figuring out who he is, what's important to him, and where he belongs.

In the context of being a soldier, doing what he was taught to do and being part of a team of men whom he cares about; he ends up with a Silver Star and Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) is surprised by the attention of all this.

Billy has been a screw-up most of his life and while protecting the honor of his sister Katheryn (Kristen Stewart), he gets caught by the police. As done in many places in the USA, courts often let convicted criminals choose to join the military instead of jail time in hopes that the structure teaches young men responsibility. The structure helps him to be more responsible as does the close camaraderie between the diverse backgrounds of the men in his squad. He’s particularly taken by Squad leader "Shroom" (Vin Diesel) who pontificates about spirit and the spirituality behind all things.

The film begins with Billy coming home and getting ready to be honored for bravery with a victory tour and a half-time celebration at a Dallas Cowboys football game. Director Ang Lee uses flashbacks to give the audience the harrowing story of “Bravo” squad, as they engage in an intense fire fight in Iraq.

The best thing about the film is the juxtaposition between the fans, workers, cheerleaders, and football team owner Norm’s (Steve Martin) attitude and perception of the war and the men who fight it and what it means to be a hero. The film does this really well by cutting back and forth between the gun battle and the half-time celebration.

I related to the nervousness of the squad as loud noise and fireworks had them, in a nervous reflex, ducking for cover. I remember coming home from Vietnam and ducking and covering at every backfire from a car or startling loud noise.

Along with the celebration, all through the film there is a promoter Albert (Chris Tucker) who is attempting to get a deal for a film about the bravery of the squad. He makes it urgent because he can only get them big money while they are “hot” property. When Norm states that he's willing to fund their film, but only offers the men $5,500 each, Billy and Dime (Garrett Hedlund) take a firm stand. The story is not America’s but theirs and it cannot be bought for this very low price.

A film like this would need a love interest and here Billy runs into a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Faison (Makenzie Leigh) who admires the hero in Billy but does she even really see him? The idea of being close to a hero is effectively shared in their brief encounters and belies a real relationship.

Alwyn is very good in this role of naïve, yet worldly in the ways of life and death, young man. Martin is very effective as “America’s Football Team” owner. He is the personification of someone looking for an edge, notoriety, while taking advantage of situations for his own benefit. Diesel is strong as the philosophy spouting leader. Nice to see Diesel in a softer role. Hedlund is perfect as the toe the line new squad leader keeping his team together. Stewart is wonderful as the caring sister who feels responsible for her brother’s predicament. Leigh is great as the cheerleader who is more in love with a hero than the hero himself. Tucker is very believable as a promoter. Jean-Chrisophe Castelli wrote an interesting screenplay which takes on the challenge of showing the public's disconnect from the realities of war and yet wanting to own the heroes for their work. Lee effectively shows half-time pageantry, the behind the scenes of how the pageantry gets put together, and the battle scenes. His use of color is exquisite. This isn’t an easy story to tell but in Lee’s hands it works very well.

Overall:  I was surprised by how much I ended up liking the film because the title actually put me off.

Loving

First Hit:  A sweet and expressive film about true love.

The overflowing sweetness of this true story is accentuated by difficulties our society, specifically the State of Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statute which prohibited marriage between people classified as white and colored. The film shares how this couple persevered.

Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton), a bricklayer and race car enthusiast, never saw color. His quiet way of being was congruent with his life as expressed in the active conscious quality he put into his work, his abilities for making cars faster and his love for his girlfriend Mildred (Ruth Negga). Mildred’s family owned the race car he worked on part time and was part of their family. When Mildred gets pregnant with their child, he buys an acre of land to build their home and asks her to marry him.

Because of the Virginia laws, they run off to Washington DC to get married as Virginia won’t let an interracial couple marry. However, one night the home they are staying in is raided and they get thrown into jail.

This naïve couple hire a lawyer who cuts a deal with the judge, if they plead guilty, to leave the state and not return for 25 years. They end up in DC and it isn’t the life they want together. Mildred especially dislikes the city as her, now three, children have few places to play outside.

Mildred writes a letter to U.S. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy gets a response by the ACLU. Attorney Bernie Cohen (Nick Kroll) takes the case and because the statute of limitations have passed, he has to find a way to get it back into court. One day he meets civil litigator Philip Herschkop (Jon Bass) and together they find a way to get the case re-heard, appeal it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The feel of the late 1950’s through 1968 was amazingly shared on the screen. The way people talked, the cars, and the settings were wonderfully created and filmed. The director, Jeff Nichols, made this interesting even though Richard was mainly soft spoken, quiet, and man of few words. Pacing was important to keep the audience engaged and Nichols made this really work.

Edgerton was sublimely strong and clear in his silent way. You felt his pain and clarity of his love of Mildred. Negga was fantastic as Mildred. Her strength building through the film resulted in their decision to take their case forward. Kroll and Bass did a wonderful job of being the Loving's lawyers. Nichols wrote a superb screenplay and his direction was clear and true.

Overall:  Loving was lovely.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (3-D)

First Hit:  Engaging at times, wonderful visualizations, and slightly misguided.

Although I left the theater thinking that this film was very entertaining, upon reflection it seemed like the film was too convoluted and didn’t know what it wanted to be in the end. Granted it was fun to watch, the beasts were extraordinary, and Newt (Eddie Redmayne) was very good as the kind hearted magician coming to New York with a goal of freeing his Thunderbird in Arizona, but the sweetness got lost in the hoopla.

There is a lot else going on in this film, however it is really enough to say that the beasts are extremely well done? Probably not.

Although wizardry and the like is viewed as naturally dark, Redmayne did a great job of bringing some light heartedness to the story as did Dan Fogler as Kowalski. What also added to the darkness of this film was watching a 3-D version which reduces the light on the screen.

The basic story is that New York is being attacked by an Obscurus (a dark entity) and MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America) is trying to find a way to capture and stop the Obscurus from destroying New York as this sort of entity also puts magical wizards and witches in the public eye which isn’t good and Newt, just arriving from England and Hogwarts, gets caught up in this battle.

Arriving via ship, he’s carrying a suitcase filled with an odd assortment of creatures, including the Thunderbird, some of whom are mischievous and occasionally escape the case. Although this part of the storyline is entertaining it really didn’t work for me in that I kept wondering why he didn’t get a case with more secure locks.

During his first few hours in New York, he ends up entangling with Kowalski (Dan Fogler) who is going to a bank to ask for a loan to open a bakery. The reason for the engagement of these two is that they both have the same type suitcase. Kowalski’s is filled with pastries he wants the bank loan officer to taste.

However, with the cases switched, three of the beasts get out including a platypus looking animal called a Niffler, that steals anything shiny like coins and jewelry, adding additional complications to a troubled city. While the Niffler is ravaging jewelry stores filled with shiny bangles, Newt is desperately trying to find his suitcase of creatures, and capture the escapees. When he finds Kowalski, and hopefully his suitcase, he realizes that this person could help him despite him being a “muggle” or “no-maj.”

This is part of the overall story as muggles and no-majs cannot know about wizards, magic and witches therefore Kowalski, knowing about this magic, puts himself in danger for getting part of his mind erased. But being open and kind towards Newt, accepting of the wizard’s way, and being liked by a beautiful witch named Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol), he gets a temporary pass. Queenie’s sister Porpentina “Tina” (Katherine Waterston), who is a previously demoted inspector for MACUSA, captures and arrests Newt for using magic publicly. When she takes him to a MACUSA hearing, they ignore her and see Newt as an odd misplaced individual. However, as Tina learns more about Newt, she befriends him and hides Newt and Kowalski in her and her sister’s home.

When MACUSA learns that Newt has real experience capturing Obscurus types of entities they support him, with the assistance of Tina, Queenie, and Kowalski, in helping MACUSA rid New York of this entity.

Redmayne is very good as an introverted wizard that relates more with his fantastic beasts than people. He’s good at acting clumsy around people and great when in his own world. Fogler is really good as the budding baker and muggle who helps the wizard Newt. Sudol is wonderful and the engaging witch sister of Tina. Her brightness was welcomed in the film. Waterston was strong as the demoted investigator of MACUSA. Carmen Ejogo is good as President Seraphina Picquery of MACUSA. Colin Farrell is OK as Percival Graves a high ranking and powerful wizard in MACUSA. J. K. Rowling wrote this somewhat predictable script that seemed more complex than needed. There is limited character development which makes the story somewhat shallow. David Yates who directed three of the Harry Potter films, knew what Rowling wanted and outside of doing a great job of making the beasts fantastic, he did his best with Rowling’s limited vision.

Overall:  Although I was, at times, enchanted during the film, my interest and fascination faded away too quickly.

Moonlight

First Hit:  A powerful, deep, and intense look into a story rarely shared on the big screen.

Shown in three different stages of his life, the audience is given a profoundly penetrating view of a gay black man’s life journey. Chiron, also known as “Little” and “Black”, is growing up in Miami to a drug addicted mother and no father. He’s played in these three stages by Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes respectively.

As “Little” (Hibbert), Chiron is often the odd boy out. He’s quiet, sullen, and feels out of place. He’s afraid to go home as his mother, Paula (Naomie Harris), is often high or pushing him out the door to make room for one of her many boyfriends.

He’s only got one friend of sorts, Kevin (Jaden Piner), but Kevin cannot stop the other boys from picking on him. While hiding out from bullies who were chasing him, he’s discovered in the projects by Juan (Mahershala Ali) who takes a liking to the boy and takes him in. Juan’s girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monae) feeds the skinny scared boy. They coax him to speak but only get short bursts of two or three words at a time. Juan takes him to the beach and teaches him how to swim. The effect of Juan and Teresa’s kindness and understanding permeates the first part of the film even when they are not on the screen and shows up again towards the end of the film.

As “Chiron” (Sanders), the tones of harshness and the extreme difficulty of discovering his life, and who he is, becomes more pronounced. His mom is deeper in her addiction; his prevalent sadness is darker as he knows he’s different but has little in the way of social communication tools to help him understand himself. His only friend is still Kevin (Jharrel Jerome). The rage inside is slowly building and comes to a head.

As Black (Rhodes), a nickname given to him by Kevin, he is now an adult. You can see the effect Juan had on him by his car, attitude, and choice of supporting himself. He’s away from Miami, his mom is in a rehab, and he still living a life of being alone. He gets a call from Kevin (Andre Holland) who has been thinking of him and invites him down to Miami. Black goes and takes another step in owning his life.

Beautifully shot, the long slow scenes are left to unfold. It isn’t easy to let the camera roll staying close to an actor’s face without having the actor speak. And at times I wondered if this was smart, but then the next scene would shine light on the reasons why. Each of the actors portraying Chiron allowed the silent inward struggle come to forth; to be shown and not told. To do this, these actors had to pay attention to the director and more importantly, to the story. Each of them kept the sense of longing, unknowing, and sadness throughout the film by sharing specifically for the age being portrayed. This film is fearless in its presentation and the screenwriter and director are to be complemented for this.

Hibbert, Sanders, and Rhodes are each amazingly effective in their singular role. Hibbert’s sorrow and anguish as a small boy wondering why he’s different was amazing. Sanders’s teen existence is superb. He’s tall yet trying to hide from everyone including himself and yet he’d like to be seen. Sander’s is sublime. Rhodes is perfect as his self-assured exterior belies his inner soft aching. The scenes with his mother and Kevin are extraordinary. Piner, Jerome, and especially Holland are engaging and wonderful as Kevin. Ali is amazing as Juan the sensitive drug dealer who becomes a mentor of sorts for Chiron. Monae is a beautiful light in this heavy picture. Every scene she’s in she brings joy and light. Harris is effectively real as Chiron's drug addled mother who really does love her son but has no way to relate to him. Barry Jenkins had a clear vision for what he wanted and wrote an amazingly strong and daring screenplay and brought it to life with stunning direction by getting outstanding performances from everyone.

Overall:  A strong emotionally effective film.