The Invisible Man

First Hit: Despite Elizabeth Moss’s excellent performance, the film dragged on.

Moss, as Cecilia Kass, plays a wife who is being controlled by her husband, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), and is looking to escape his clutches.

The story begins with Cecilia sneaking out of bed, packing some clothes, and sneaking out of the house. As she moves through the home and the surrounding property, we figure out that Adrian must be wealthy because the home is amazingly new, large and modern, and the walled-in yard is extravagant. There is also a quick clip with someone saying he’s done very well in the world of optical science.

Cecilia’s sister, Emily (Harriet Dyer), picks her up on an empty two-lane road near the home, and just as Emily attempts to ask why Cecilia is doing this, Adrian’s fist comes through the window and tries to pull Cecilia out of the car. The two just escape his clutches and speed down the road.

Cecilia gets dropped off at James Lanier’s (Aldis Hodge) home. James is a police officer and lives with his daughter Sydney (Storm Reid). Cecilia feels safe there as we learn that her husband doesn’t know about James or where he lives.

Cecilia learns that Adrian has committed suicide, which, to Cecilia, seems out of character. Adrian’s brother Tom (Michael Dorman) is the executor of Adrian's estate and tells Cecilia that she is to receive $5M in payments.

However, strange things begin to happen to Cecilia, and she suspects that Adrian is still alive and invisible. This is when we begin to see some great acting by Moss. Her terror from being stalked by an invisible person is so true-to-life that her audience is drawn in to her efforts to convince others of the reality of her experiences. Yet, this is also where the film begins to wane because we just spend too much time, in different circumstances, watching Cecilia evading an invisible Adrian.

We all know how it is going to end, so there is no surprise. However, the way it is handled by Cecilia is good and does add to the enjoyment of the overall film.

I didn’t think any of the relationships were well developed, which was disappointing. Don’t know why Cecilia would even be with Adrian in the first place. Where did Cecilia and James know each other from? What was Tom and Adrian’s relationship based upon? The film attempts to have the audience believe the dialogue, but the over subservient way people acted with Adrian was incongruent.

Moss was excellent at portraying fear of an invisible person, and she showed this through her very expressive face. Hodge was wonderful as Cecilia’s friend and protector. Dyer was perfect as Cecilia’s sister in the way she protected, listened to, and cared about her sister. Reid was terrific as James’s daughter. Dorman was good as Adrian’s subservient brother. Leigh Whannell wrote and directed this movie. The writing was good, but the story got old waiting for Cecilia (and the audience) to see Adrian and to get to the end. Part of the problem for me was the lack of character and relationship development.

Overall: This film had possibilities but failed to engage me fully.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

First Hit: The film was a slow evolution and stretched at times, but also it was an engaging story about slow smoldering love.

From the opening moments after Marianne (Noemie Merlant) lands on the island and treks up to a large stately home and is greeted by the housekeeper Sophie (Luana Bajrami), we know this is going to unfold slowly.

The premise is that Marianne is there to secretly paint Heloise (Adele Haenel) who has been pulled out of a convent, where she wanted to be, by her mother, La Comtesse (Valeria Golino). Heloise is to take her sister’s place in a marriage to a man in Milan, Italy. Her sister committed suicide. The painting is to be sent to the perspective suiter.

To secretly paint Heloise, La Comtesse has told Heloise that Marianne is there to be her companion for walks. On their strolls, Heloise is brooding, inquisitive, and sullen. But the audience knows there is something deeper brewing.

The side story with Sophie being pregnant and wanting an abortion is well done. The moment she subjects herself to a procedure in a home, with a baby by her side is enormously powerful and thought-provoking.

The lighting and sets are both stark and dark but they create a beautiful space for love to flourish.

Merlant is terrific and compelling as the artist whose job it is to capture the essence and beauty of Heloise. Hanel is a smolderingly sublime reflection of beauty in this role. As a woman who is slowly falling in love, she is perfect. Bajrami is divine as the pregnant housekeeper. The scene, as described above, is very emotional. Celine Sciamma wrote and directed this film and it felt as though it came from her heart.

Overall: I loved the story, but I felt it took too long to develop.

The Call of the Wild

First Hit: I was very distracted by the computer-generated dog, Buck, that acted more like a human than a dog, therefore, I missed the power of the story.

This film is based on the great Jack London short novel of the same name. From the moment we meet Buck, his looks and mannerisms reflect the humanization of the dog. Being a dog owner, I really disliked this. Reading into a dog’s eyes and looks to reflect our human emotions is a fantasy I don’t particularly like.

Basically, the story goes that Buck is stolen from his owner Judge Miller (Bradley Whitford), in Santa Clara, CA. While with the Judge, Buck had the run of Miller’s home, and the opening scenes we see him eating whatever food he can find, and then he ruins a whole table full of food, by sampling or eating more food than a dog, of that size, could ever eat.

Now stolen from his home, Buck is shipped to Alaska and meets John Thornton (Harrison Ford), who is grumpy but sees something in Buck he likes and gives a wry smile.

Buck is purchased by the mail delivery team of Perrault (Omar Sy) and Francoise (Cara Lee). Although Buck is a huge dog, he’s out of his element because Perrault and Francoise are dog sled mail delivery workers, and Buck has never been a working dog and knows nothing about snow or being a sled pulling dog. He’s been a home dog.

Buck is mystified by the snow and then becomes demoralized after being hooked up to a harness and asked to pull a sled led by other computer-animated dogs. He does his best but, in a human way, makes mistakes.

But CGI Buck decides to become the best dog in the team, which comes across as another human aspect. The lead dog appreciates Bucks's efforts (more human emotions), but the entire movie audience knows what is coming, a confrontation with the lead husky.

This confrontation ultimately ends up in glory for Buck, Perrault, and Francois, but as the story would have it, Buck gets sold again to a greedy miner Hal (Dan Stevens) who wants to find gold. He and Thorton get into it, and bad blood arises over Hal’s treatment of Buck.

Buck escapes Hal, finds Thornton, and they walk together into the wilderness, the call of the wild sort of speak.

Together they create an excellent partnership. Upon arriving at a remote cabin, they set up shop, and Buck starts to flirt with and hang out with timberwolves. Of course, there is one final predictable confrontation with Hal, and we all know what will happen.

There are lovely and poignant moments, and they mostly revolve around Thornton’s grumpy demeanor and Buck’s loving, caring way.

Not being able to forget just how humanized Buck was made to be, the film’s real story about self-redemption and following your dream, was left on the cutting room floor.

Ford was terrific as John Thornton, a man who was still mourning the loss of his son. Sy was great and engaging as Perrault, the sled driver. Gee was excellent as Perrault’s co-sled team driver. Michael Green wrote this screenplay. There wasn’t anything wrong with the screenplay, but the execution of the CGI dog just failed the film. Chris Sanders did a reasonable job of directing this story, but the CGI hurt the effort, and Sanders is part to blame because he allowed too much humanization of Buck.

Overall: This was a difficult film to watch because it seemed too made up.

Downhill

First Hit: Despite an excellent performance by Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Billie, this film goes downhill because of Will Ferrell as Pete.

Most of you who have read this blog know that I’m not a big Will Ferrell fan. It was in this film that he shows how incapable he is of showing a depth of character. He had the opportunity to show real wisdom in this role, and with a partner like Louis-Dreyfus, who serves as an incredible, intense foil in this film, he didn’t show up. Just as he didn’t show up as the character struggling about his marriage in this film.

The story is about Billie, Pete, and their two sons Finn and Emerson, on a once in lifetime ski trip in the Alps. There is a slight tension as they check into the hotel revealed by Billie’s tense facial expressions.

As the film wears on, there are moments when this tension subsides momentarily, but the marital discord becomes clear when Billie has to keep reminding Pete to get off the phone and quit texting his workmate Zach (Zach Woods) and Zach’s new girlfriend Rosie (Zoe Chao). You get the sense that he’s jealous of Zach.

When a controlled avalanche barrels down on the lodge deck where they are sitting down to eat, Pete runs away from his family out of panic. Leaving Billie to wrap her arms around Finn and Emerson protecting them from the snow crashing around them.

Pete’s running away becomes the elephant in the room until they have cocktails with Rosie and Zach. Billie tells the story, and Pete tries to defend his behavior, which erupts into a huge fight bringing their marriage issues to the table.

Here is where Ferrell’s failings as a dramatic actor come to fore. When the camera focuses on him and the expression in his narrowly spaced eyes, there isn’t much at home. He’s like a child, and the audience realizes what Billie has been dealing with, raising three children, not two.

As a side note, this is a remake of “Force Majeure”, a film I saw in 2014, which was better in many ways.

Louis-Dreyfus is fantastic in this film. I’ve never seen her act in a dramatic role, and she excels here. She has a very expressive face, and it tells the story as you need to know it. Ferrell is like a man child. He has minimal range, and his previous role as an overgrown santa helper in Elf, probably fits him perfectly. Miranda Otto (Charlotte), as the hotel representative who tries to give Billie advice about living her life more fully, is hilarious. Jesse Armstrong and Nat Faxon wrote a good screenplay. Faxon directed the film, and despite Ferrell’s inability to put depth into his role, the rest of the film was terrific.

Overall: I was severely disappointed in the way Ferrell’s performance hurt this movie.

The Assistant

First Hit: It is no coincidence that this film is out during the Harvey Weinstein trial.

This is a powerful film for numerous reasons. The most compelling aspect for me was that we never see the studio head, the person who has everyone in the story intimidated and contrite towards him. It is an essential and scary message. Another reason is that we are reading about Weinstein’s trial in the newspaper for the past week, and he’s been accused of doing just what this film is about. Then there is the way this film uses the unspoken issue about predatory sexual behavior to intimidate, coerce, and manipulate people.

The story begins by following Jane (Julia Garner), assistant to the studio head, from her early morning ritual of leaving her apartment and going to the office in downtown New York City. Entering the office, she’s the first one there. She prepares, prints, and distributes reports. Then she turns on the lights on the rest of the floor and goes to the boss’s office to clean up after him. This includes picking up an earring, wiping crumbs and stuff on the desk, and tellingly, cleaning off stains that are on the couch, which we suspect to be from a sexual encounter.

As the story moves on, other office workers arrive, they all carry an air of fear, afraid of doing something wrong. We hear mumbled raised voices coming from behind the closed office door of the boss.

Phone calls are taken, plans rearranged, people don’t smile. Jane gets routed a call from the boss’s wife, who complains that her credit cards won’t work, gets angry at Jane’s attempt to placate her, and hangs up. The boss calls Jane and yells at her. The audience barely hears the mumbled yelling on the phone call. Jane’s response is to type an email to her boss stating that she is sorry and it will never happen again.

This type of intimidation is the theme throughout the film.

The climax of Jane’s concern happens when she escorts a “new assistant,” Sienna (Kristine Froseth), to a posh hotel. Sienna tells Jane that she was waitressing in Boise, Idaho when the boss told her she should come to NYC and become one of his assistants. We then learn that the boss leaves the office to visit Sienna at the hotel. When Jane takes her concern that the boss is misbehaving to the head of Human Resources, she once again gets intimidated. Inappropriate sex by the boss is never said but implied, and, as a final insult, Jane is told, “Don’t worry. You’re not his type.”

The way this film is shot feels almost voyeuristic. We don’t see the boss. We only follow Jane. We carefully watch her actions, and all the conversations she has on the phone are muffled, barely audible. When the door is closed and the boss is yelling, we hear some of the swear words and when the boss is with a woman, we hear muffled laughter and other noises.

Garner is phenomenal. The way she internalizes her fear, her sadness, and disdain is expressed to the audience with subtle mouth movements and very expressive eyes. Everyone else is strong in their roles, but their characters are minor and don’t warrant a mention here. Kitty Green wrote and directed this excellent portrayal of intimidation and predatory sexual abuse.

Overall: The impact of seeing this film stayed with me through the next day.