The Florida Project

First Hit: A troubling and powerful view of a young girl living in a motel near Disney World.

After the closing credits I was left with the feeling that I didn’t quite know or understood what I just witnessed.

Was it a scripted film? Was it improvisational? Was it a combination of both? At times, it felt all too real which is a good sign for any film. Yet, watching the actions of the kids made me cringe because I wanted the parents to guide the children with manners, civility, and a modicum of honesty but it probably wouldn’t have been an interesting film otherwise.

Moonee (Brooklyn Prince) is being raised in a bright purple motel near Disney World by her heavily tattooed mother Hailey (Bria Vinaite). The motel is being managed by a kindhearted compassionate and strong rule making Bobby (Willem Defoe).

Moonee plays all day with Scooty (Christopher Rivera) and Jancey (Valeria Cotto). They run around the motel, neighboring motels, open areas, and stripmalls, conning people into money and food, taking food from a urban outreach van, and getting into trouble by some of their actions including starting a fire.

Hailey hangs out at her motel room watching television, turning tricks, and conning tourists to buy perfume and other makeup accessories. Her best friend at the motel is Ashley (Mela Murder) who works a waitress job and provides free food for Hailey, Moonee and her son Scooty. However, this relationship falls apart because of their children’s’ involvement in an incident.

This film doesn’t have much of a story other than to share the story of their day to day lives of surviving life in a motel. It wasn’t too hard to see that a future life for Moonee would be difficult as she wasn’t getting educated and her mother did not have the skill set to teach her anything other than conning people.

Prince is amazing as the young girl handling life really well as only a street smart 6-year old girl can. I struggled to know what was acting and what was simply her being herself. Vinaite was powerful as a caring mom who has made her way on the streets from being a stripper, prostitute and con artist. Rivera and Cotto as Moonee’s friends were amazing. I loved their sessions of eating one ice cream cone together. Defoe was exceptional as the caring compassionate motel manager who had to walk a fine line between enforcing the rules and helping these families survive. Murder was excellent as the mother who knew and delivered on boundaries that would make Scooty a better citizen. Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch wrote an extremely life-like script reflecting this slice of society. Baker got amazing performances out of his actors.

Overall: This film was an excellent slice of life.

Goodbye Christopher Robin

First Hit: Touchingly deep story about how the 'Winnie the Pooh' books came into existence.

Alan Milne (Domhnall Gleeson), a writer of comedic plays and books, was deeply affected by his time in the British Army during WWI, the war to end all wars. Fighting in the trenches he saw the horrors of war—bloody corpses everywhere being feasted on by flies.

Returning from the war, he had difficulty adjusting to life in London. The sudden noises and flashes of light and color brought on severe debilitating impulsive actions that were harmful to himself, his wife Daphne (Margot Robbie), and friends.

Struggling with his experience of war he wrote a book called Peace with Honour in 1934 to protest war and why countries fight with each other. However, struggling to find traction in his life and to get away from the noises that he believes are causing his post war troubles, he and Daphne move to the country. Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield Sussex was a large rambling place with acres of land filled with woods.

Soon after moving Daphne has a child, Christopher Robin Milne (Will Tilson), who is a bright inquisitive child. Neither Alan nor Daphne knew much about parenting so they hire Olive (Kelly Mcdonald) as a nanny. She and Christopher create a strong meaningful bond.

However, when Olive has to leave to tend to her mother and with Daphne in London, Alan and Christopher start spending time in the woods together. This is where the magic and healing for Alan begins and the expressive mind of Christopher is opened and Milne is inspired to write the Winnie the Pooh books, which quickly became beloved by children all over the world.

The film does an amazing job of setting the above story and segueing the story into the power of imagination. The dance between the relationships of Olive and Christopher, Christopher and his parents, Alan and Daphne and most importantly Olive and the Milne’s was powerfully effective. The acting, especially of Tilson, was extraordinary. Additionally, the scenes of an older Christopher (Alex Lawther) and Alan was amazing, especially when they talk at the overlook.

The cinematography, especially the capturing of lighting, was amazing.

Gleeson was powerful as the traumatically affected writer looking for internal creative space to process his creative angst and joy. Robbie is excellent as the mother who didn’t adjust well to motherhood but loved her son and husband. Tilson was sublime as Christopher. He captured the magic of imagination in his eyes and spirit. Mcdonald was amazing as Christopher’s nanny. Her caring heart and deep love for her own life and the life of the Milne’s was wonderfully captured. Lawther was very strong as the older Christopher trying to find a way to lose the shackles of being one of the most famous and celebrated boys in history. Frank Cottrell Boyce and Simon Vaughan wrote an excellent script. It captured the depth of the story all the way through. Simon Curtis knew what he was doing and made this story come alive in all ways. The direction of this story through these actors was amazing.

Overall:  Not being familiar with Winnie the Pooh stories, I was driven to want to read them.

Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House

First Hit: I loved learning more about Mr. Felt because he helped the country from the deceit of a corrupt and lying President.

Mark Felt (Liam Neeson) was a career FBI man. Thirty years he’d worked for the agency as Deputy Assistant to the Director, Herbert Hoover. As Hoover’s right hand man, he saw all the secrets the FBI collected about people.

During the Nixon administration, Nixon feared losing the next election more than anything, therefore he authorized the break-in of the Democratic Headquarters in the Watergate building. When Hoover dies, the White House installs L. Patrick Gray (Marton Csokas)  to run the FBI. He’s a shill for the White House and this infuriates Felt.

The FBI had a history of being separate from the White House and Congress. They held up the rule of law and, as much as possible, were apolitical.

When it appeared that Felt wasn’t going to be made the permanent FBI director, his wife Audrey (Diane Lane) becomes clearly disappointed because, as she explains, set aside her whole life for him and this opportunity and it won’t happen.

As he learns that the Watergate break-in is being buried and covered up, Mark’s patriotic side decides he cannot live with our country being told deceitful lies and telephones the Washington Post with information only he and few others know. One of the things he ensures is that he’s not the only one that knows the information he passes on to the reporters. He becomes, as they name him, Deep Throat.

The film is mostly shot with a dark undertone in its color reflecting the darkness of the times. To add to this darkness, we learn that his daughter Joan (Malika Monroe) walked away from her home never to be heard from again. We never learn why but we know that her mother Audrey wasn’t emotionally available to her.

Neeson is brilliant as Felt. His ability to be emotionlessness towards his work and protect the United States from the corruption in the Presidency was perfect. Lane was excellent as the woman who gave up her life for her husband’s and knew nothing about nurturing her child. Csokas was good as acting FBI director Gray, a man beholding to the president. Peter Landesman wrote and directed this film. I loved the integration of real film footage of the times with this film; it worked very well. The dialogue was wonderfully constructed to create suspense and historical interpretation.

Overall: The film also gave me hope that someone will expose the deceitful ways of our current President.

Only the Brave

First Hit: Inspiring true story about the Granite Mountain Hot Shots.

With the recent fires in northern California, this true story about the brave men who fight these fires on the ground with hoes and back fires was poignant.

Eric Marsh (James Brolin) is the committed “Supe” of a team of municipal level 2 firefighters. They’ve been training for years to become certified “Hot Shots.” Hot Shots are federally funded and government developed, trained and paid for firefighters. However, with the number of fires, expertise of the team, and history of success, this municipally trained and developed group of firefighters want a chance to be evaluated and hopefully certified as Hot Shots.

Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller) is a screw up. He spends most of his time getting high, but when confronted with his old casual girlfriend Natalie Johnson (Natalie Hall) saying she’s pregnant with his child, a switch flips and he wants to be a responsible parent. He hears of a job opening at the firefighting center and he goes into an interview.

In a wonderful scene, Marsh comes right out and asks Brendan when was the last time he used. Then when Brendan also explains that he’s going to be a father and wants to be there for his child. Marsh takes a chance on him despite other members of the crew disliking Brendan having had some history with him.

The film’s story is about redemption; the hard work of Marsh and his firefighting team along with Brendan learning to become a father.

The fire scenes were intensely striking. It was interesting and engaging to learn more about how Hot Shots work. I really enjoyed the camaraderie shown by the men as they worked together for a common goal. One of the best scenes in the film had nothing to do with a fire. It was Eric arguing with his wife Amanda (Jennifer Connelly) in their truck while driving home one night. It felt real, deep and powerful.

There were two downsides to this film for me. One was the role and or performance of Fire Chief Duane Steinbrink (Jeff Bridges). He seemed to not take this role seriously or created more of a characterization than being a helpful friend and strong fire chief. The second downside was the role of the chief’s wife Marvel (Andie McDowell). Her role was very limited and was clearly a scripting and direction issue. It was almost if it would have been a better if Duane was single because there was only one scene that I recall she had where she states something like the men are more married to the fire than their wives. On a more minor note, the whole symbolism of the burning bear didn’t quite work for me.

Teller was fantastic. His portrayal of a druggie and then his transformation to being a sober father was sublime. He continues to be an actor that deserves recognition for doing solid strong work. Brolin was very strong as the intense man who made fighting fires his drug of choice. Connelly was brilliant as Brolin’s wife. Her clear strength as a woman wanting to chart her course was wonderful. Bridges was wasted in this role and I felt bad that his performance brought this film down. McDowell was wasted in another way, she wasn’t given enough of a role to improve the film. Hall was very good in this minor but very important role. Ken Nolan and Eric Warren Singer wrote a strong screenplay except for the role of the fire chief’s wife. Joseph Kosinski did an excellent job of portraying the fire and how firefighting teams fight them; I was entranced during those scenes.

Overall: A powerful reminder of the power of fire and the amazing abilities of firefighters.

Victoria and Abdul

First Hit: The story was funny, interesting and predictable.

Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) is portrayed as not very interested in her duties or her life. She sleeps through state dinners and when she eats, she scarfs her food down with gusto. During this time, England is a world power and as such, England rules India and therefore she is Empress of India.

During the Queen’s Golden Jubilee (50 years on the throne) leaders of countries came to celebrate and bring the Queen gifts. India sent two Muslim servants to England to present the Queen a special coin. They are told to not look at the Queen when they present the coin. However, Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal) does look at the Queen and she responds in kind.

Inviting him to be her man servant, he gains her trust and friendship and soon she makes him Mushi, which means teacher. With Abdul, she begins to learn Hindustani and of Indian culture which she thinks is appropriate because she’s Empress of India.

The film is focused on her loyalty to Abdul, his loyalty to serve the Queen, and the Queen’s staff worrying that their relationship is inappropriate because he is different and beneath them. There are comical scenes, sad scenes and scenes that share information about the rules of the time.

Dench was perfect as someone who was lost in the boredom of her role as a Queen only to come alive with new interest and energy by way of Abdul. Fazal was excellent as Abdul. His expressions of both wonder at the spectacle of it all and the seriousness of his role as Mushi were very engaging. Eddie Izzard (as Bertie, Prince of Wales) was very good as the resistant son who wanted Abdul gone because without him the Queen’s general health was becoming worse which put him closer to the throne. His cruelty as he takes the throne is horrible. Lee Hall wrote a very good script that brought this story to life. Stephen Frears did a nice job of sharing the story. He provided a plausibility while shedding light on their relationship and deep caring for each other.

Overall: It was entertaining and informative.