Rules Don't Apply

First Hit:  I was left wanting because I wanted this film to be insightful about the secret world of Howard Hughes, a powerful, interesting, and enigmatic figure of my youth.

The name “Howard Hughes” billionaire, held its own fascination to me during the late 1950’s – 1960’s. In Southern California, where I grew up, the name Hughes Aircraft labeled a number of buildings in and around the Glendale and El Segundo areas. The Hughes Aircraft Company was a subsidiary of Hughes Tool Company, which his father started, was headquartered in Texas and because of his father’s early death, he inherited the business when he was just eighteen years old.

With drive and vision, this wealth allowed him to create the airline company TWA (Trans World Airlines) out of Transcontinental and Western Air. He also bought hotels in Las Vegas (The Sands, Castaways, Landmark, Frontier, Silver Slipper and Desert Inn). He also got involved in Media and specifically for this film RKO Pictures.

The film opens with Levar Mathis (Matthew Broderick) and Nadine Henley (Candice Bergen) anxiously trying to get Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty) to, via telephone, address a group of reporters. The reason is that in this public press conference, Hughes is expected to answer reporter’s questions to disprove and debunk a book stating that Hughes is now insane and needs to be institutionalized.

The movie rolls back in time 5 years and we meet Marla Mabry (Lily Collins) and her mother Lucy (Annette Bening) who are coming to LA from Virginia for Marla to meet Howard and have a screen test for a film Hughes was going to make with her as the star. They are met by Hughes’ driver Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) and there is an immediate spark between Marla and Frank. However, Frank is forbidden by Howard’s rules as explained to him feverishly by Levar, that he will be fired if he fraternizes, in any way, with any of Hughes actresses.

As the film makes its way to the press conference, we learn about Howard's quirks with people and things. He likes Banana Nut ice cream one moment, and Vanilla the next. We see bankers waiting for hours in a bungalow at the Beverly Hilton just to meet and see Howard before giving him $400+ million dollars. Hughes of course is in nearby bungalow but prefers to speak with them via phone.

We watch him and Frank gaze at the Spruce Goose which the Army commissioned to build but thinks it won’t fly. But Hughes flies the plane one time to prove its feasibility, then decommissions the plane. Watching a film of the flight, you hear Howard complain there was no close-up of him flying the plane.

He lives in the shadows of rooms and in the dark. He does most of his business by phone, meanwhile Marla and Frank both try to find personal one-on-one time with Howard so that she can pitch her talents and he can pitch his real estate deal. Along with way, they signal their mutual interest in each other.

I was fascinated with what Howard would say or come up with next. But what didn’t work for me was not getting more about the very odd story of Hughes. I thought the love story of Marla and Frank was rather tepid. However, the redemption of the latter arrives at the end of the film, but it wasn’t what I was interested in. I wanted more about Howard Hughes a childhood fascination of mine.

I did like the film’s time-period and the views of Hollywood, LA and Las Vegas were engagingly wonderful. The attention to details in the rooms and bungalows were great.

Beatty was oddly quirky and strong as a man on the edge of greatness and sanity. He was perfect for this role and did an excellent job of directing himself. Collins was very engaging and good as Maples. Her ability to be sober and drunk and keep the character congruent was virtuous and perfect. Bening, as Marla’s mother was wonderful. Her religious and personal beliefs were perfectly represented. Ehrenreich was wonderful. His intensity and respect for Hughes in their conversations was excellently presented. Martin Sheen as Hughes’ CEO was great. He expressed just the right amount of irritation at the bosses’ behavior and respect for Howard’s accomplishments. Broderick was fun as the sort of chief of staff role he had for Hughes. Bergen was fun and good as Hughes’ secretary and assistant. Beatty wrote a wonderful screenplay but as I said earlier I would have rather had more Hughes and less Maples and Frank, but that is just me. Hughes is what I was interested in. Beatty also did a good job of directing this bigger than life story.

Overall:  I wanted a bigger story about Hughes.

Bleed for This

First Hit:  Although very well acted, it didn’t stay with me nor was I inspired.

The oddity for me about this film was seeing this amazing struggle that Vinny Pazienza (Miles Teller) went through to fight again, yet also being turned off by a number of the movie's characters. The pushiness and arrogance of his father Angelo (Ciaran Hinds), promoter and son Lou Duva (Ted Levine) and Dan Duva (Jordan Gelber), and the treatment of family members, just left me cold.

It is not that I have to like the characters in a movie, however for some reason, Angelo, Lou and Dan turned me off to other parts of the film. On the converse side Vinny’s relationship with his trainer Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart) was priceless. This was the best part of the film. The push/pull and of their personalities was exquisite.

The film shined when it was about how Vinny found his inner strength to really live again. Up until that one point, Miles did a great job of moving Vinny to level of complacency while healing. But then it switches and he becomes the focused Vinny the film begins with, thus moving the film into another gear. When Kevin joins him in his quest, the movie started to sing again and the bonding between these two men in the basement was outstanding.

The fight scenes were OK. Some of the the ring choreography was puzzling but overall it was exciting and gave an air of the battles Vinny went through. The training scenes and the appropriately dark and grungy gyms used to train in, were perfect given the era and type of boxer Vinney portrayed.

Vinny’s mom Louise (Katey Sagal) not being able to watch any of his fights, spent that time in front of her alter of Jesus emblemed candles and other Jesus iconic stuff. It was difficult for me to relate to that kind of praying, yet it made sense for the film and Italian family. Additionally, the scenes of Vinny and entourage in strip joints also fit the film’s genera, and were insightful to the characters in their own way.

Teller was very strong as Vinny and made his battle believable. Each time he had to get into a car or duck under something I cringed and ducked in my seat as well. Eckhart was outstanding as Vinny’s trainer. I loved his drunk scenes as well as his sober focused scenes equally. Hinds was perfectly obnoxious, egotistic and arrogant as boss of his family and what he wanted. The scene of him chomping and smoking a cigar on the porch while telling off Kevin was perfect in all ways. Levine and Gelber was wonderful as the father and son promoters always looking out for their interests while feigning the interest of the fighters they promote. Sagal was good as the suppressed mom always worried about her son’s fighting. Ben Younger both wrote and directed this film. The writing in many of the scenes was outstanding and getting the actors to deliver on those lines was skillful.

Overall:  Engaging film to watch but forgetful by the next day.

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.