On Chesil Beach

First Hit: Saoirse Ronan shows, once again, why she’s one of the top actors acting today.

When an actor can share a wide range of deeply felt feelings and emotions without saying a single word to draw the audience into each scene, pay attention.

This story is about two people, who've just married, attempting to sexually consummate their marriage. The film uses flashbacks to show their family history, issues, and the pressures they faced growing up and how it's affecting this new life together.

Ronan as Florence Ponting is a young lady with prodigious musical talents is being raised by her overbearing mother Violet (Emily Watson) and a pushy bullying father Geoffrey (Samuel West). Their opinions and control over Florence and her sister, Ruth's (Bebe Cave) lives is a key and important component of the film.

Then there is Edward Mayhew (Billy Howle), he’s living with a mother Marjorie (Anne-Marie Duff) who got hit by a moving train’s door and suffers mental issues. She can be found naked talking to birds in the backyard. His father Lionel (Adrian Scarborough) is long suffering taking care of his wife, the home, work and two daughters along with Edward. Their house is chaos and when he receives a letter stating that he’s #1 in the history tests he took, no one in his family cares.

Searching to find someone he can tell and who cares, he runs into Florence and it is love at first site.

The romance is wonderful yet void of much deep intimacy. They marry and when it comes to consummating the marriage through intimacy, they struggle.

The scenes during and after their sexual attempt are very strong and the amount and range of emotion shown by both actors was excellent.

The film takes the actors forward, some 40 years into the future and it is sweet to see how the film ends.

Ronan is phenomenal. As I’ve indicated in previous reviews, she’s the very best young actress around. She selects roles that are deep and complex and gives each character body and soul. Howle is very good here. He does a great job of portraying men’s insecurities and complexities. Watson is sternly great. West is strong as the intense demanding father. Cave is great. Duff is amazing as the mentally challenged mother. Scarborough is solidly good as Edwards’ father. Ian McEwan wrote a very strong screenplay. Dominic Cooke did a wonderful job of piecing this story together and getting excellent performances from his cast.

Overall: I loved the complexity of this film and how it addressed a difficult subject.

First Reformed

First Hit: A slow paced, thoughtful, story about a confused tormented priest.

In upstate New York there is a small church called First Reformed. Its leader is Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) who is troubled because of his past military experience and from losing his son. He’s also ignoring his illness, has a small congregation of six or seven people, and drinks a lot to push his troubles away.

He begins to start a journal which serves, from time to time, as a voice over during the film.

The church is going to celebrate it’s 250th anniversary and the big famous church in town, led by Pastor Jeffers (Cedric the Entertainer) is sponsoring the celebration. The celebration will have the mayor, the governor and a leading business executive – specifically a deep pocket financial partner named Edward Balq (Michael Gaston) who owns a company that pollutes the environment.

The complications in the story come from Mary (Amanda Seyfried) and her husband Michael (Phillip Ettinger). She’s pregnant, he wants Mary to abort the child because the polluted world the child will be born into is not something he can support. Michael is a serious environmental activist. This is born out when Mary finds a vest bomb he's made. Mary has asks Reverend Tollar to step in and help. This is difficult for Tollar.

Also, Toller’s ex-wife works for Pastor Jeffers and wants to be involved in Toller’s life but he’s pushes her away whenever possible.

The key in this story is about Michael’s activism and how it affects Reverend Toller. Toller thinks about what is happening to the earth and plans to make a big statement about this at the celebration because he dislikes Balq’s attitude and Pastor Jeffers’ control and support of Balq’s polluting company.

The pacing was very methodical and therefore the film was long. I think it could have been tightened up a bit. The ending was a bit odd as well, and it fit the overall films oddity.

Hawke is strong as the tormented reverend. He’s good in these types of roles and here he continues to excel. Seyfried is excellent as the confused activist wife whose opinion was changed by her own pregnancy. Cedric the Entertainer was very strong as the Pastor of his big time evangelical church. Ettinger was good as the confused and depressed Michael. Gaston was strong as the business man who thinks money fixes everything. Victoria Hill (as Esther, Toller’s ex-wife) was excellent. Her care and out reach was perfectly annoying to Toller. Paul Schrader wrote and directed this film. I liked the dialogue, however the pacing was just a little too slow for me.

Overall:  This film is complex in that it is about, environment issues, loss, abortion, religion and big business all mixed into one story.

The Seagull

First Hit: An OK version of an Anton Chekhov play.

Unrequited love, that is what this film and story is about. There are amusing ways it is shown. The matriarch of this story, Irina (Annette Bening) is a publicity hound and loves the adoration she receives from the audiences she performs in front of. She has a younger lover, a playwright, named Boris Trigorin (Corey Stoll) who is weak of spirit and Irina’s commanding strength controls him.

While visiting Irina’s summer home and home of her brother Sorin (Brian Dennehy), Boris falls for Nina (Saoirse Ronan), which makes Irina’s son Konstantin (Billy Howle) jealous because he loves Nina. Konstantin spends most of his time trying to get approval as a writer and attention from his mother Irina.

Masha (Elisabeth Moss) the daughter of property caretakers Polina and Shamrayev (Mare Winningham and Glenn Fleshler respectively), longs for Konstantin but he cannot stand her. Masha is being pursued by a poor teacher and she cannot stand him.

Another unrequited relationship is Polina longing for Doctor Dorn (Jon Tenney) but he wants no part of her.

This is the entire basis of this story and film. It’s appeal is that almost everyone has had this sort of unrequited love in their life.

However, so much at the same time is also the weakness of this film. It is almost not real.

Benning is strong as the ego-based actress that needs to believe she’s the best looking person in the room and is lauded by everyone in Russia. Ronan is divine as Nina. She is one of the best parts of this film and her confusion about her love for Boris is wonderful. Dennehy is good as the brother that is ill. Howle is good as the son who is filled with sadness and pain of rejections from both his mother and Nina. Moss is particularly funny and dramatic. Especially when she’s drinking at the table with Boris and says, all women drink, I just do it openly. Stoll is very good as the subservient man to Irina and his short-lived lust for Nina. Winningham is strong as the caretaker’s wife who also lusts after someone other than her husband. Flesher is especially good as a man that doesn’t want to be ordered around by Irina. Tenney is strong as the doctor who wants someone and rejects someone else. Stephen Karam wrote a strong version of this Chekhov play. Michael Mayer directed this drama with a sure hand.

Overall: I think this story is relatable in this format and overall it worked.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

First Hit: I liked it and thought it did a great job of bringing Han Solo into the overall Star Wars story.

Sometimes prequels to an established story fail. Other times they add and bring to life characters that we’ve already been introduced to. This film is one of the latter. Just like the 2009 film Star Trek did for the Star Trek movie and TV series.

Here, Han (Alden Ehrenreich) has a big job to do. He must give us cocky irreverence alongside being a strong capable person and carry a believability of his intention to be a strong dependable character of the resistance in the future.

The first part I really loved was his flying his low-level cruiser into a very tight area and getting stuck. It is the attitude that he can make it yet accepting he didn’t and then moves on. You also sense that he learns from each mistake.

He gets separated from the love of his young life Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) and vows to her he will come back for her.

I loved that his last name “Solo” is given to him by an Empire recruiting officer. He has no last name and no family, so when the officer says, "your name" he says "Han" and the officer says "Han what?" and Hans says he doesn't have a last name, so the officer says “Han (waits a moment or two) Solo” because he's alone and a renegade – perfect.

After joining the Empire, he gets expelled from flight school, and finds himself fighting for the Empire by slogging it out in the mud which he detests because he sees himself as a fighter pilot. He becomes slightly enamored with Captain Beckett (Woody Harrelson) who he soon finds out is only parading as a Captain to get over on the Empire and make some money because he owes Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany).

Failing this Beckett, his wife Val (Thandie Newton) and Rio Durant (voice by Jon Favreau) decide to steal some hyper-fuel Coaxium as a way to repay Vos. Their problem is that Solo, hoping to join them by blackmailing Beckett, tries to turn them in but the tables are turned, and Solo gets thrown into jail to battle the beast.

The beast happens to be a Wookie named Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and because Solo speaks a little Shyriiwook (Chewbacca’s language) they plot to get out of jail together. They do, join Beckett and make an attempt to steal the Coaxium.

Failing this, Solo runs into Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) who owns the Millennium Falcon, and together they try to find and steal more Coaxium because Solo thinks Qi’ri is being enslaved by Vos, he wants to buy her back.

This is the set up and what the viewer gets is the introduction of Solo, Chewy, and Lando for the future films. It also sets the tone for the resistance whom Solo helps.

The downside of the film is that it is a little long. However, it is engaging. The film does not depend on computer generated graphics and stuff to make it work, it depends on characters that you learn about and begin to care about or dislike. They bring in just enough of the upcoming story, the Star Wars series of films, by building a strong base for these characters. Did Solo really win the Millennium Falcon in a card game?

Ehrenreich was excellent. Although I didn’t think anyone could bring the swagger of a young Harrison Ford Solo, Ehrenreich did a credible job. Clarke was very strong as Qi’ra. She hid her changed alliances very well and kept the audience and Solo guessing. Newton was great in a smaller role as Beckett’s wife. Harrelson was outstanding as Beckett who was a swindler extraordinaire always looking out for himself and his wife. Suotamo was excellent as Chewbacca. I thoroughly enjoyed how he and Solo because partners. Glover as Lando was very strong. He carried the basis of the future and older Lando perfectly. Bettany was outstanding as Vos. His growing evilness as he got angrier was perfect for the role. Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan wrote and excellent script. It carried the deep Star Wars theme through the entire picture. Ron Howard, as director, showed why he’s one of the best and an excellent choice to make this prequel.

Overall: Extremely entertaining and worthy of the Star Wars franchise name.

Book Club

First Hit: Although the age ranges they portrayed didn’t work, as a comedy it was out-loud funny.

The actual age ranges between these women (Fonda 81 & Steenburgen 65) was too wide ranging for me to believe that they were nearly lifelong friends. This part of the story needed cleaning up. However, once I got past this, I found the story funny, poignant, and enjoyable.

At the time I went to see this film, 11:00 AM, there was a small crowd of older women. I think I was the only man in the audience. And initially, they were laughing at just about everything. I was only mildly amused.

Yet something happened as the film went on, I found myself enjoying the pointed jabs at age, men, sex, and technology. What made it work was the actors themselves. They all have been around long enough for the audience to know them a little. The parts they played were perfect to how we know them.

The vehicle the story uses for these women to get together once a month is a Monthly Book club. They’ve been meeting monthly for over forty years and in doing so, they have learned to love and accept each other as they are.

Diane (Diane Keaton) was grounded in her flighty Annie Hall sort of way. Watching her slow build to telling her grown protective children that she was still capable of being happy, learning, and having fun experiences with a man was pointedly clear.

Vivian (Jane Fonda) played the rich I don’ need anyone loner was perfect. Jane has generally shown her skittishness towards being vulnerable and in this role, she has to become vulnerable with the man who shows up to her again after forty years.

Sharon (Candice Bergen) was the professional woman, who had her cat and her Federal Judgeship to keep her happy. After her divorce her husband Tom (Ed Begley Jr.) found love in someone one third his age. She said she couldn’t care less and was happy presiding over her courtroom until....

And Carol (Mary Steenburgen) was the only married woman in the group. Her husband Bruce (Craig T. Nelson) and her still liked sex. However, after his retirement party six months earlier, he was disinterested in her sexually and seemed lost.

Early in the film, the group meets and it’s Vivian’s turn to select a book. She chooses Fifty Shades of Grey. This gets all the women thinking about their sex life and eventually their love life.

Diane is afraid of flying and meets a very rich pilot Mitchell (Andy Garcia). Vivian runs into her old beau Arthur (Don Johnson) who is still in love with her. Sharon decides to try internet dating and meets up with George (Richard Dreyfus) an accountant and someone who really likes her. And Carol finds devious ways to try to get Bruce interested in sex again.

As you might imagine, older women finding that they are interested in love and intimacy is relevant to all people at any age.

Keaton was quirkily funny in both her actions (paddling a floating swan in a pool) and words. She can really shine when the role calls for it, and it does here. Fonda, I must admit, is someone I’ve adored for her intelligent skittishness towards men. Here she shows that she still has that power over me at 81. Bergen was the character I had the most reservations about. I never liked her TV role of Murphy Brown much, but here she shines. I loved her projections of herself on her contented cat. Steenburgen had the most difficult role because she was still in a relationship. However, the scene with the cop stopping her and Bruce after she spiked his beer with Viagra was funny. Nelson was very good as the reluctant husband finding his way after retirement. Garcia was excellent as the pilot who wanted to whisk Diane away. Johnson was very good as the very romantic younger man who still held a lot of love for Vivian. Dreyfus was funny and appropriately stuffy as the accountant that had found his match. Them getting out of the back seat of Sharon’s car was funny. Bill Holderman and Erin Simms wrote a script that worked for these actors. Holderman’s direction was strong enough to get me laughing out loud.

Overall: I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.