Beatriz at Dinner

First Hit: At times funny, but more of a sad and depressing drama to me and I’m not sure why the producers only tagged this as a comedy.

This film started interestingly for me for a couple of reasons. One, the locations where this is filmed are very familiar. Santa Monica and Newport Beach, where most the film takes place, are places where I grew up. And two, I also think that there is truth to the energy healing that Beatriz (Salma Hayek) performs as her vocation.  At the cancer center in Santa Monica where she works, the patients believe she is critical to their healing.

One of her patients, Suzana (Natalia Abelleyra), gained strength and healing through the work Beatriz did. Suzana’s mother Cathy (Connie Britton) has invited Beatriz to Newport so that Beatriz can give her a massage prior to a business dinner she and her husband Grant (David Warshofsky) are giving for Doug Strutt (John Lithgow) his third wife Jeana (Amy Landecker) and Alex and Shannon (Jay Duplass and Chole Sevigny respectively).

They are at dinner to discuss a big land deal that will allow them make a lot of money although it appears that they already have enough money based on the home they are in and cars they drive.

After Beatriz gives Cathy a massage, she’s asked to stay for dinner, as a friend, because her car doesn’t start and she is stuck there for a while.

The comedy and drama really start when Beatriz starts to speak to this obviously conservative, money focused, and egocentric people. She tells them about when she was a little girl and when her father caught a white octopus and asked her to kill it by kicking it. When she reached down and touched it she felt the pain of the octopus and from then on she became aware that all humans and animals are connected.

Doug shares about his killing a rhino in Africa and passes around a phone picture that so upset Beatriz that she throws the phone across the room at Doug. The hosts, Cathy and Grant ask Beatriz to leave the room and home.

Before she does there is a sequence where she gives thought to murdering Doug, then the film goes even darker and more depressing.

Hayek was good and she was believable but the script and story was a letdown. I’m not sure the flashbacks of her on a river looking for her white goat or the other dream sequences served the film or story. Lithgow was excellent as an arrogant, self-absorbed, conservative, and egocentric guest. I bought his character fully. The rest of the cast was good and nothing stood out. Mike White wrote this screenplay and it seemed to be a bit too esoteric. As I said I don’t think the dream sequences worked and the ending was not called for. Miguel Arteta did well in directing the cast, but think he could have effectively cut some of the dream sequences and maybe asked to create additional effective scenes. It is almost like this film could have been a good 1 hour movie special.

Overall:  I was hopeful for this film, but it failed for many reasons.

Megan Leavey

First Hit: I was fully engaged emotionally with this film and maybe it's because I have a dog and we're close.

Megan Leavey’s story is a true one and I appreciated seeing the real Rex and Megan in the final credits.

This story is about a young lost girl who finds love and a path through life by joining the US Marines and becoming a dog handler. Megan (Kate Mara) perfectly portrays a life not worth living. She is in constant dispute with her mother Jackie (Edie Falco) who just seems clueless about her daughter’s life and what she’s hurting from. Megan also hates her job and has recently lost her closest friend.

There’s a great scene in this film that emphasizes the struggle between Jackie and Megan. Jackie is complaining about her former husband Bob (Bradley Whitford) not giving her the $2,000 he owes her, and Megan’s retort points out that Jackie slept with Bob’s best friend Jim (Will Patton) so Megan doesn’t think Bob owns her mother anything.

Early on she drinks herself out of a job she hates, and drinking gets her in trouble in the Marines as well when she gets caught peeing next to the base provost’s home. Making wrong decisions are her trademark, but this latter one gets her duty cleaning up the kennel. And with most detrimental things in life, there are opportunities as well and Megan suddenly realizes she wants to be a dog handler.

The film takes us through the process and gives the audience a clear picture of how unique these dogs and their handlers are. After Megan meets Rex (her German Shepard), she begins to open up and feels caring and love towards something for the first time in a long time. There are wonderful touching realistic moments that are nicely captured.

Although these dog teams are not well loved by other ground troops and the enemy really dislikes them, they provide a valuable service and when they discover hidden explosives they are beloved.

The movie follows Megan to Iraq where she and Rex are assigned missions. Rex performs perfectly and bravely because Megan performs in the same way, they are connected. They are a team and become inseparable. However, after they both receive injuries, the expectation is that Megan will not re-enlist and Rex will be retired. She wants to adopt Rex but a very unmindful Marine Vet says Rex is unadoptable.

With Megan’s heart broken, she starts to slip away into her previous “I give up” life. However, her dad gives her a talk that highlights her strength and what she learned by being a Marine.

Mara is fantastic. I really felt her despair early in the film and later when Rex was re-assigned to another handler. I also bought her growth as she found strength to tackle the issues or challenges in front of her. Falco was strong has her mother who seemed clueless as to her own behavior and actions towards her daughter. The café scene when she asks about who gets how much money if she happens to die in Iraq was priceless and perfect. Whitford was wonderful as her quiet unassuming father. Common as Gunnery Martin was really good and he’s shown that he's become a strong actor. Ramon Rodriguez as fellow handler Matt Morales was wonderful. I loved his lightheartedness and open caring for both his animal and Megan. Pamela Gray and Annie Mumolo wrote a sensitive and strong screenplay. Gabriela Cowperthwaite did a great job of presenting this emotional strong story.

Overall:  I cried numerous times during this film, which told me it worked.

The Hero

First Hit: A sweet thoughtful film about a man caught in the past and trying to rectify the future.

Who doesn’t love Sam Elliot’s voice? Here Elliot plays Lee Hayden a part time actor and voice over master who had one film part that made him famous. The part was in a western in the 1960's called ‘The Hero’.

The film begins with him doing a voice over with his deep rich velvety voice. The director/producer asks him to continue repeating the saying (about some sauce) as if he’ll do the same words in such a way that it is different. Watching Lee closely you see his distaste for producers and directors not knowing what they want.

He spends time with his neighbor Jeremy Frost (Nick Offerman) who is a former actor who did a short-lived television series with Lee, and is also Lee’s marijuana dealer/provider. They smoke pot, take a few other drugs, drink, get high, watch old films and lament why their careers didn’t do more.

There’s a sadness about Lee, which gets pointed out by Charlotte Dylan (Laura Prepon) one of Jeremy’s other drug customers, when he asks what she sees in him while staring, she says “sadness”. There is a mutual spark of interest and he invites her on a date to an awards banquet where he’s to receive a “lifetime…” award.

The awards banquet is a hoot because Charlotte gave him a ‘molly’ in his champagne and they have a blast together.

The other story is Lee’s attempt at a reconciliation with his daughter Lucy (Krysten Ritter) whom he had with wife Valarie (Katherine Ross). Carrying around this news about his cancer is weighing Lee down and his inability to share this with Valarie, Lucy and his neighbor Jeremy is creating internal dialogue and dreams that have him reliving his famous role, 'The Hero'.

The challenges Lee has are: Being with a woman who’s about 30+ years his junior. His former wife’s success as an artist and gallery owner. His cancer and having an estranged daughter are slowing sinking him. He must find a way to begin resolving these challenges.

Scenes that I thought were powerful included; Charlotte’s comedy routine, Charlotte reading a poem, he and his daughter standing on a beachside cliff, his audition for a new film, and his sharing with Valarie about his cancer.

Elliot’s voice is amazing. I love listening to him speak. It is a voice I’m envious of. He’s perfect for this part because, although known, he’s not an actor you see in a lot of films. It was very nice to see Ross again in a film role. Although it was a small part, she’s great. Prepon is fantastic as the young woman who is interested in spending time with Lee. She’s a perfect amount of sassiness and thoughtfulness. Ritter is strong as the forgotten daughter. I loved her lines on the beach cliff about comparing their hands. It was truly touching. Offerman was funny as Lee’s neighbor, friend and drug supplier. When Lee is reviewing lines for a new part, Offerman’s antsy behavior is priceless. Brett Haley and Marc Basch wrote a very strong script. It was filled with perfect sections of silence as well as witty dialogue. Haley did a great job of filming this and when you see through the eyes of Lee high on mushrooms, you sensed the perceived clarity of life.

Overall:  This was a fine film that will probably be enjoyed by a small audience.

The Book of Henry

First Hit: The story and acting was wonderful and deeply touching.

Susan Carpenter (Naomi Watts) is a single mother of two boys Henry (Jaden Lieberher) and Peter (Jacob Tremblay). Susan is a waitress at a small café and her co-worker and best friend is Shelia (Sarah Silverman). Together they are tackling life as it comes to them with an occasional glass of wine.

Early on we learn that Henry is an extraordinary boy. Smart, way beyond his years, he’s about things being fair. When his brother gets picked on by a bully at school, Henry is there. When he figures out that his neighbor and classmate Christina (Maddie Ziegler) is being sexually abused by her step-father Glenn Sickleman (Dean Norris) who happens to be the Police Commissioner in their town, he wants to do something about it.

Henry calls help lines and speaks to the school principal but she says that there isn’t anything to do because of Glenn’s connections and that Glenn is looked up to in the community. Henry is focused and incensed that nobody is helping his sweet neighbor.

Henry is the adult in this family and shows this because he's invested their money wisely and his mom has a growing nest egg. Also, while in a grocery store one day, the family sees a man mistreating a young woman and Henry wants to help her out, but Susan tells him it isn’t their business. He protests by saying apathy is the enemy of society.

Although Henry is a genius, he suffers from headaches and one day falls into a seizure. In the hospital, they learn he’s got a brain tumor and will soon die. He makes Peter promise to give their mom a red book and instructs his mom to quit her job, pay attention to their stocks and she and Peter will be financially okay.

The book contains detailed step by step instructions on how to save Christina from her step-father. At first Susan is reluctant, but after she witnesses Christina’s plight one night while looking out the window, she commits to making a difference.

I liked how this film developed the characters. It gave them each a way to express and represent their part in this touching story.

Watts was amazing as the mother of these two boys. Her ability to be smart, dependent and trusting was amazing. Lieberher was fantastic as Henry. He embodied the role of brilliance and his thoughtfulness even while passing on early in life. I was transfixed watching him. Tremblay was outstanding as the younger brother. Although not with Henry’s brilliance, he was extremely smart in a tenacious way. He was amazingly loveable. Silverman was perfect as the off the wall friend whose has a heart of gold. Ziegler was very good as the girl next door who had a horrible secret she was keeping. Norris was very strong in the unenviable role as the step-father. Gregg Hurwitz wrote a strong and insightful screenplay. Colin Trevorrow did a masterful job of creating a wonderful film to watch.

Overall:  This is a well thought out sensitive film.

The Mummy

First Hit:  Starts off okay, but falls off quickly into a waste of film and time.

Tom Cruise (here as Nick Morton) gives his all in everything he does. In some films like Risky Business, Top Gun, and A Few Good Men, it is more than enough and strong but you still know it is Tom Cruise.

The difference between those films and this one is they had good and believable stories. This story fails early on. The idea that Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), an Egyptian princess, decided to embrace the dark side and be all powerful when her legacy is taken away from her because of the birth of a male child, was rather thin. Then to make the story interesting, because of her new-found power, she was killed and was buried in Mesopotamia. The fear of her power required that she be interned in a tomb filled with mercury to keep her powers deplete. This made the reach too far to be believable. In fact the finders of the tomb said it was far fetched that there was an Egyptian tomb in Mesopotamia.

The story has Nick and his side-kick Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) being artifact hunters who illegally sell what they find. Nick steals a map of an artifact site from Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) and accidently finds the sarcophagus with Ahmanet.

Until this point the film is tolerable. But after the plane, which is transporting the tomb to London, falls out of the sky and Nick survives without a scratch, the film really reaches into the bag of unbelievability.  And it's at this point we get that Nick is part of Ahmanet’s plan to destroy the world.

The visuals are good and there was no expense spared in making the visuals work, however, for me Ahmanet’s costume failed. She’s supposed to be wrapped in mummy cloth strips, but the outline of her underwear was too obvious. Additionally, I don’t think any of the body markings on her face or body added anything to her role.

Cruise, as I’ve said in other film reviews with Tom Cruise as the star, is simply Tom Cruise in a role. He never embodies a character and becomes the character, he is Tom Cruise as a character. Boutella was okay. I didn’t think the double eye irises added anything of interest. Of course, with four irises, I don’t know how she could see. Johnson was okay as the side kick, but as a zombie, it didn’t work. Wallis was the best part of the film. She came across as smart and in control of her role. David Koepp and Christopher McQuarrie wrote a far-fetched screenplay. Alex Kurtzman did an okay job of directing the actors. That the story was mediocre and that Cruise will go all out making sure we know it is Tom Cruise acting a role, made his job harder.

Overall: Another waste of time watching an expensive blockbuster.