Framing John DeLorean

First Hit: It was wonderful to learn more about John DeLorean, his life, and what happened to this risky innovator.

First off, this film is a combination of straight documentary film and reenactments. There is plenty of original documentary footage, including FBI footage of a sting operation, and interviews of John Z. DeLorean and his family. There are also current interviews with players in John’s life, including his two children. However, the wrinkle is that this movie also consists of reenactments of specific scenes in John’s life. Alec Baldwin plays John in these reenactments.

Being a car enthusiast, starting in the late 1960s, I was very aware of DeLorean’s impact at General Motors. His first impact statement with GM was the Pontiac GTO, the first bonafide muscle car. This was a “gotta have car” in the 60s. In this film, we learn how he figured out how to get the car made and out to the public under the strict design, build, and delivery structure at General Motors.

Because he bucked the traditions to get things done at General Motors, he was observed by senior managers. John’s everything-he-touches-turns-to gold successes at increasing sales at GM led him to become the youngest Division Head at General Motors at age 40. Although he pushed the buttons of the staunch old guard at GM, his bold work had him being touted as the next CEO and President.

However, tired of run-ins with the old guard, and having a lack of design flexibility, DeLorean left GM in 1973 to start his own motor car company, the DeLorean Motor Company (DMC). To find financing he touted his prowess at GM. He got private funding of about $17M and also got a lot more money from the British Government because he was going to build his manufacturing plant in Ireland. This was a real win for the Irish people.

The interviews of the factory workers were wonderfully touching. They loved working there because they were building something together, and the riff between the Protestant and Catholics fell away on the factory floor. This was great for both the people and the governments of Ireland and England.

However, technical issues and quality control issues caused problems with the automobiles, and they didn’t sell. Additionally, the economy took a downturn just as John introduced these cars but what really sank this ship was Margaret Thatcher deciding she didn’t want to continue under the support agreement DeLorean and England had created.

Needing money to keep his dream alive, fix the manufacturing problems, and sell the cars, he got caught up in a drug deal that was going to get him some $24M. However, it was a sting operation by the FBI.

The film goes into more detail about the trial and how it affected his family that what was reported in the papers. Current interviews with his son Zach and daughter Kathryn share how hard it was on the family.

Then it was discovered by a forensic accountant that the original $17M that DeLorean collected had been laundered with the help of an Italian group who took half the $17M, while John took the other half. I didn’t know beforehand about this issue, and it really added to the sneaky way John worked.

Some of the scenes during which Baldwin plays DeLorean, are modeled after the tapes and film of John, like being busted for the cocaine deal, and it’s effective.

DeLorean did not really spend much time behind bars, but he ended up broke and still trying to finish the dream with the DMC2 model. He died in his apartment, alone.

However, it was the film “Back to the Future” that may cement the DeLorean Motor Car as iconic.

Baldwin was very good as John, and I sensed he came close to sharing what DeLorean was like. Dan Greeney and Alexandra Orton did a great job of scripting this hybrid film. Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce did a fantastic job of directing this complex story of a complicated driven dreamer.

Overall: I really enjoyed learning more about this visionary.

Shaft

First Hit: Simply, this is Samuel L. Jackson’s film through and through.

It’s hard to take this film seriously, and it is seriously fun to watch. Jackson, as John Shaft, is still the king of the neighborhood, has a stern attitude, and rollicks through this story taking full ownership.

This story begins when he and his wife Maya Babanikos (Regina Hall) are arguing in their car. JJ Shaft (Jessie T. Usher), their baby, is in the back seat. As usual, where Shaft is, there is trouble, and a shootout will more than likely commence.

Maya has had enough and, with JJ in tow, leaves Shaft and tells him to stay away forever. The film rolls through the years quickly, with funny vignettes showing the birthday presents Shaft sends JJ (box of rubbers on JJ’s 10th).

In current time JJ is now an FBI data analyst, and he stumbles on to a possible crime because his best friend, Karim Hassan (Avan Jogia) dies of what the police say is an overdose.

At work, he doesn’t get assigned to the FBI probe into the local mosque, although he’s an outstanding analyst, and he thinks Karin was involved in the mosque’s activities.

He locates and waltzes into his dad’s office, looking for some help in finding what really went on in Hassan’s death. Meeting for the first time in twenty plus years, the reunion is filled with John Shaft ego and bragging moments and advice that is contrary to JJ’s beliefs. This is the moment when the audience knows we’re going on a Samuel L. Jackson E-Ticket (for those who remember Disneyland long ago) wild ride.

Going to visit Manny (Ian Casselberry) the local Bronx heroin dealer, they run roughshod, over his group of thugs. And here is where JJ starts to re-think that his passiveness and begins to see some value in his dad’s way of resolving problems.

Some of the amusing parts of the film include JJ’s attempts to share his romantic interest for his longtime friend Sasha Arias (Alexandra Shipp). When John Shaft first meets Sasha, when she pulls a gun out of her purse at a restaurant, and how she dreamily looks at JJ when he jumps into action during a dinner they have.

The story goes on, and eventually, we get introduced to John Shaft Sr. (Richard Roundtree), and this completes the cycle. The original Shaft, the current Shaft, and the upcoming Shaft.

Don’t go to this film if you are looking to watch a serious movie. This film is tongue-in-cheek, and it’s fun.

Jackson is this film. He’s the reason you laugh and are engaged in the story because you wonder what he’ll do next. Hall is excellent as Shaft’s estranged wife. Her quips about Shaft’s focus are hilarious. Usher is wonderful as the passive smart FBI agent who finds his roots through meeting his father. Shipp is excellent as JJ’s friend and later girlfriend. Her shift in attitude towards Shaft’s lifestyle was subtle and fun. Roundtree was great to see, and as a reminder of the original song and film, I smiled. Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow wrote an entertaining active script. Tim Story knew that he needed to let Jackson run roughshod over this film because Samuel will make it work, he always does.

Overall: If you’re looking for action entertainment and don’t mind a lot of swearing, this is a film for you.

Late Night

First Hit: I thought Emma Thompson as Katherine Newbury, was excellent and engaging in this role, but the rest of the film flopped along.

The overall story premise was good if looking at it from 100,000 feet. Young aspiring comedy writer who is a woman of color breaking into the all-white male writing team for Katherine Newbury who is a successful twenty-five plus year veteran late-night comedy talk show host.

But the failure is that there is little meat on the bones of Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling) finding her way from being a quality inspector at a Pittsburgh chemical producing plant (“the factory”) to being hired, with no experience just because she’s female of color.

This old part of Patel’s story is set up with a few lines of dialogue and fewer sparse scenes that hold no reason or inclination as to why she thinks she could even interview for the job as Newbury’s writer, let alone get the job.

Granted, the hiring and firing of her staff writers by Newbury is illegal and problematic, but they do try to be funny and point out weaknesses in people, companies, society, and specifically Newbury. But this isn’t the film’s message, or at least we hope it isn’t. What are the lessons?

Lesson One: If you’ve got a dream, work hard at it, get good at it, don’t just point out negatives of someone else’s work, provide input about changes, make your information excellent, and maybe you’ll make it. This was Molly’s path to getting seen and heard. However, its failing is that we never learn why she felt she could be a comedic writer in the first place. I think she believed that because this may be Kaling’s own story, it would come across, it didn’t.

Lesson Two: The second message is about forgiveness of past deeds and waking up to a changing world. But it’s about making changes to stay relevant that is the primary focus of lesson two. This was Katherine’s lesson. And how it plays out publicly with one of her young guests, what she has to let go of, and her long ago affair was rather good.

I thought the scenes in the writing room were weak and of little impact. The film could have dug into how difficult it is to create comedy by leveraging the characters and writers; #’s 1 – 8. The numbers relate to how Newbury labeled her team instead of using their names. Realistically, this was a device to prop up Katherine’s meanness. The heartfelt scene when she thanked everyone and uses everyone’s name except #6’s, was OK until she forgot his name. Another plot device to say, Newbury has learned something but still has more to learn.

What I’m saying is that every scene was a manipulation for the benefit of the two lessons mentioned above.

Thompson was strong focused and powerful as the aging talk show host who gave up everything to be in her position. She carried the right tenor and clarity of purpose. Kaling seemed lost and lazy in this role. I know little about her in other characters, but this one just fell flat. It was more about the situations she found herself in that were interesting, but the two major crying jags were not necessary and seemed like another plot device to manipulate other characters and the audience. John Lithgow, as Katherine’s husband Walter, was excellent in his limited role. Hugh Dancy as charming and seductive writer Charlie Fain was Okay. Again, he was a distinct plot device and not a real good character with history or background. Reid Scott as monologue writer Tom Campbell was better. There was an engagement in the role which came through. Denis O’Hare as Newbury’s right-hand person Brad was very good. His frantic ways of fixing all of Katherine’s problems was engaging and like a people pleaser. Ike Barinholtz as Newbury’s designated replacement Daniel Tennant was suitable. His facial expressions when being interviewed on Newbury’s show, and she re-directed the intent was perfect. Kaling wrote a mediocre screenplay that meandered and lacked solid footing. Nisha Ganatra directed this and got some excellent performances and also weak scenes mostly due to script failings.

Overall: This film failed at delivering all that it could, and this was mostly due to Kaling’s script and acting.

Booksmart

First Hit: A potent mixture of comedy and how high school can bring out the best and worst in kids.

Many people have or had a best friend in high school. Those friends are your backstop; understanding enough of you to let you sense a level of acceptance bringing peace in turbulent times. Sometimes it is the group of like people you run with and other times it is just one person.

In Booksmart, we have best friends Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) as two very focused bookish girls who spent all their time, outside the classroom, studying to graduate high school and get into the best colleges.

The film starts on the last day as they walk through the halls of the school and the party has begun. All the other kids are just having fun, throwing stuff in the air, not caring about anything but having fun. Amy and Molly are severe students and think that others won’t amount to anything. They are playing it straight.

Sitting in Ms. Fine’s (Jessica Williams) class, the film gives a great picture of how these two do not fit into the school’s popular social structure. The fact that their teacher Ms. Fine suggests that they let loose a little is funny and telling.

Despite being outsiders, both of them have minor crushes on other students. Amy, being gay, has a crush on a quirky, edgy girl Ryan (Victoria Ruesga) and Molly has a crush on Nick (Mason Gooding).

When the girls learn that the other “party hardy” students are also smart and heading to ivy league schools as well, they decide on the last day before graduating, they are going to attend a significant high school party and cut loose.

The path to the party is full of high-jinx, and funny situations as the girls do their best to get into the party mode for the first time in their lives. Their boundaries get crushed, and they end up having their first all-out disagreement in front of the entire party.

I thought the dialogue was smart and whippet-fast. I liked the scenes they found themselves in, including a Lyft being driven by their principle Jordan Brown (Jason Sudeikis). Ms. Fine feels sorry for them and in a critical moment of the evening, provides real party clothes for the girls because she’s a single woman in LA and has lots of clothes in her car. Kids having crushes on their teachers and girls who maybe went too far with too many boys finding out that it can hurt. All of these vignettes were really well acted and staged.

Dever was terrific as the cute, conservative, young gay girl. She did a great job with her character. Feldstein was equally funny and engaging in her role. Williams was excellent, and I loved her walking up behind a student at graduation, mistakenly – an amusing scene. Sudeikis was his usual charming self and both as Principal and a Lyft driver, he made the role believable. Ruesga was outstanding as the quirky, fun loving girl. Gooding was excellent as the class VP and, in the end, a sweet boy. Molly Gordon, as Triple-A (Annabelle), was excellent as the girl who wanted to be loved for who she is. Skyler Gisondo was sublime as the rich boy who wished to have friends and had a kind giving heart. Diana Silvers (as Hope) was arresting as the slightly bitter girl who put down others but really cared as well. Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman wrote a powerfully relevant screenplay that was both insightful and hip. Olivia Wilde got outstanding performances and clearly had a strong vision directing this film.

Overall: Good movie for parents of teenagers and teenagers alike.

Echo In the Canyon

First Hit: Although not great in a lasting way, I loved this film because it brought me home.

I was fortunate enough to be interested in and excited by the music developed during the mid-1960s. I had gotten a guitar at age 12, and by 1965, at age 15, I wanted to be a rock and roll star. Music, popular music, was changing radically during this time and up and through 1970 a profound change was taking place both culturally and musically. I wanted to be part of it. It never happened, but watching this film, I got to see how the music I loved got brewed.

This film endeavors to put some context to the change that was happening and specifically, the LA music scene. To do this, Jakob Dylan (Bob’s son), uses his interest in how music changed during this time to discover more about what happened. He interviews a number of those musicians, producers, and through archival footage, we are taken back to what happened.

There is a canyon in LA called Laurel Canyon, where musicians lived, hung-out together, but more importantly, played music together. Founding members of the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield,, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, The Beach Boys, Mamas and Papas, and several other bands and musicians all lived at some point in Laurel Canyon.

Because I grew up in Southern California, I was aware of the scene on Sunset Blvd and the clubs these bands played. The Whiskey a Go Go, The Roxy, and the Troubadour and others were where these bands publicly tried out their material.

The interviews in this film I found fascinating. David Crosby, Steven Stills, Eric Clapton, Roger McGuinn, Graham Nash, Tom Petty, Michelle Phillips, John Sebastian, Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, Jackson Browne, and Lou Adler were illuminating and brought forth fantastic memories.

Vintage footage of these bands playing pulled at my heart. I cried as my own memories of this music flooded my soul.

Jakob staged a concert playing some of these songs, including some of the lesser-known numbers (Buffalo Springfield’s “Questions” to name one) to an enthusiastic audience. And although he put his, and his group of musicians, own wonderful flavor on these songs, I was really only hearing the original music in my head and wanted to sing along all the songs. Alas, I was in a movie theater and didn’t – my heart did.

And that’s what I loved about this film. I reminded me of my youth, the importance of music, and my relationship with these songs. This movie gave me a more in-depth perspective of the music I grew up on.

What didn’t work for me? I would have liked less of Jakob’s band playing the songs in the studio and on the stage. But I get why this is part of the film. It is a potent reminder that these songs can be carried on by younger generations. Watching Fiona Apple, Beck, Justine Bennett, Nora Jones, Jade Castrinos, and Jakob Dylan sing these songs from their hearts was outstanding as well.

Eric Barrett and Andrew Slater have the writing credits, but it was some of the responses by musicians that grabbed me. Slater did an excellent job of taking me back home, musically.

Overall: I quickly accessed beautiful memories and feelings while watching this film.