Category: Movie reviews

The Skeleton Key

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https://www.rogerebert.com/

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard
Where to watch: This movie was released in 2005. It keeps doing the rounds on the various OTT platforms
To watch or not to watch: The movie succeeds in creating an atmospheric horror, based on voodoo, which is an interesting plot device, and not something common

Caroline (Kate Hudson) is a hospice nurse who is looking for private work after losing a patient at the hospital where she used to work. She comes across a listing in the newspaper (the movie was made in 2005, when people still looked through the newspapers for jobs and such) for a nursing job in Louisiana, paying $1000 per week. The job would be to take care of Ben Devereaux (John Hurt), who is a wheelchair-bound, almost paralytic old man since he suffered a stroke some time back. At least that’s what his wife, Violet Devereaux (Gena Rowlands), tells Caroline. Caroline is a little sceptical about the job, since it is on the outskirts, but she is convinced by Luke (Peter Sarsgaard), who is the lawyer of the couple. Violet gives Caroline a skeleton key, which opens all the doors in the house, except the attic. Because it is a horror movie, and in horror movies people always go to forbidden rooms/hotels/cabins, Caroline finds the key to the attic and enters it, to find it filled with all the mirrors of the house and other paraphernalia which can be used for black magic, along with a vinyl record titled Conjure of Sacrifice. She later learns that 90 years before, the house was owned by a white couple with two kids (a boy and a girl) who employed a black couple as servants, Mama Cecile and Papa Justify. The black couple would practice a religion called hoodoo, which resulted in them being lynched by a mob. In parallel, Caroline is increasingly confident that Ben wants to tell her something about Violet and that Violet is somehow causing Ben to stay ill. Caroline is determined to save this patient even if this means she has to learn Hoodoo to do it.

It is easy to dismiss this movie because of the cast, as it was the first horror movie for all involved, and it is understandable, but in doing so people would be missing out, and this cannot be said for most of the movies out there. Any horror movie which can deliver without the age old plot of possession or haunting is a win, is definitely refreshing and delivers on the scares by subverting expectations. Unfortunately it does have cheap jump scares (it was made in 2005 after all) and has creaking doors and what not, it is still a solid movie. Do not go into the movie expecting gore or creepiness, or wait, scratch that. It is creepy, mostly atmospheric due to its setting, and it rains a lot in the movie, giving it the dark, muddy, restless feel. The pacing is slow and it reveals the dots disjointedly, but it all comes together in the end, leaving the viewer satisfactorily shocked.

There are plot holes in the movie, after all, not everyone can be Denis Villeneuve, but don’t let them distract you from the storyline. This movie skilfully deals with concepts of racism, trauma, and folklore, and doesn’t need any cheap tricks to keep viewers glued. There are multiple confusing points throughout the movie, which make sense after the ending, so be patient. Kate Hudson made a brave choice to star in a horror movie in between a range of rom-coms; this wouldn’t have been an easy decision. And while John Hurt doesn’t have more than 2 words to speak throughout the movie, he speaks volumes with his eyes and expressions. Peter Sarsgaard is, as always, a pleasure to watch, though he doesn’t get too much screen time, and Gena Rowlands is properly menacing as matron of the house. She embodied the role so well that it is difficult to separate her from it.
Definitely watch this one.

Obsession

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https://www.irishfilmcritic.com/

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless
Where to watch: In theatres
To watch or not to watch: A breath of fresh air – a definite watch recommendation for everyone who loves non-supernatural horror.

Bear (Michael Johnston) has been crushing on his classmate Nikki (Inde Navarrette) since high school, and is looking for a way to ask her out, discussing this with is best friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson). Bear is not having the best time in life, since he lost his cat and his grandmother and pining after a girl he cannot confess his feelings to. One night the friends (including Sarah played by Megan Lawless) go for their regular trivia nights and when Bear is dropping Nikki off, she asks him if he likes her, and he just couldn’t say yes. In frustration, he breaks a One Wish Willow stick and wishes that Nikki loves him “More Than Anything In The Whole World” and guess what? That’s what he got. Well, after a fashion. The rest of the movie is about Nikki being crazy, and how Bear deals with the situation.

Believe it or not, this movie is directed by a 25 year old Curry Barker, who with his long time collaborator Cooper Tomlinson, would make YouTube sketches. It is really fun, specially the sketch about a friend who didn’t like Dune 2.
Anyway, this movie is holistic, how much a horror movie can be holistic. It comes from a deep rooted trope of Nice Guy with a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and spins it on its head, leading to devastating consequences to everyone, even those not involved. It is 500 Days of Summer reimagined. It will leave you chuckling and points and screaming with terror, at the end of your seats. It is basically a story told about good intentions leading to hell, and the emotions it generates are a consequence of the storytelling, rather than going for shock-value, and weaving a story around that goal, and that’s a significant difference.

It is refreshing to see new-gen film-makers coming out with their stuff, which are original ideas. The success of Obsession and Backrooms are a proof that movies are not dying, they were just not good enough. These new movies are getting the industry out of a slump, and everyone was complaining about Netflix and AI and what-not. They might have been a 100% wrong, but their solution of going with the path of least effort was also not the correct answer. Take Rian Johnson for example – he is the epitome of a filmmaker who listened to feedback and did the right thing to solve the problem, not once, but twice.
Obsession is not only well written and directed, it is also well acted by everyone involved, most notably by Inde Navarette as Nikki. It does a good job with being right, sending a message to the masses. Chef’s kiss. A must watch.

Hokum

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https://www.thehindu.com/

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Michael Patric, Will O’Connell
Where to watch: In theatres
To watch or not to watch: Flawed but strong horror movie from Ireland. It is turning the genre around in interesting ways

Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) is a borderline alcoholic author living alone in the US, struggling to finish a book which appears to be about the lack of humanity in diversity, probably a reflection of his own conscience. While writing at night in almost darkness, and slightly inebriated, he feels visited by his dead mother’s ghost. He rifles through the limited keepsakes, finds a picture, and assuming his mother was happy in that time and place, he decides to take his parents’ ashes to Ireland, checks himself into the hotel where his parents honeymooned, and meets the hotel staff members – Fergal (Michael Patric), the groundskeeper, and Mal (Peter Coonan), the desk clerk and the son-in-law of the hotel owner. He goes to scatter his parents’ ashes, and meets a happy-go-lucky homeless man named Jerry (David Wilmot), who offers Bauman moonshine while he himself partakes of milk with shrooms to “open his mind”. Bauman, uncharacteristically, is nice to Jerry and is grateful for the alcohol (obviously). He returns emotional and resumes his drinking in the hotel bar, while Fiona (Florence Ordesh) pours him drinks and listens to him sympathetically. Bauman is haunted by his childhood when his mother was shot in the face by an intruder when Bauman was 10, and his bitter father drunk himself to death. They talk about the locked Honeymoon Suite in the hotel, where he believes his parents stayed, but which has been locked up since the hotel owner trapped a witch inside. Then Alby (Will O’Connell), the bellhop enters, who expresses his ambition to be a writer, whom Bauman insults to no end, going as far as burning Alby’s hand, and Fergal pushes Bauman to go back to his room. A little later, Fiona goes to Bauman’s room to return his tape recorder, and when Bauman doesn’t open the door, because he has attempted suicide by hanging, Fiona and Alby save his life. On being discharged, Bauman learns that the hotel is closed for the off-season and Fiona has disappeared, and Jerry is suspected of her disappearance. Bauman feels grateful to her for saving his life, and wants to do a good turn to her by finding her. Jerry and him break into the hotel and go upto the honeymoon suite, where Jerry is shot by a crossbow, and Bauman is trapped inside, and he learns the truth about the whole situation, while also drinking whiskey from his old flask.

While watching the movie, it will seem to be a simple plot about a grumpy, lonely author in a remote B&B/hotel/what-have-you, trying to finish his book while battling his inner demons. Since Hokum has limited characters, and doesn’t dwell too much on plot development, on the surface it seems to be falling into the formula. As you can see from the paragraph above, it is longer than average. And that’s ok, because the focus of the movie remains on the story and the build-up to the crux and the resolution, but the movie would have benefited from a little more backstory, maybe worth 2 minutes extra, and removing the same 2 min fat from a few scenes which do not really do much to the storytelling. This movie is director Damian McCarthy’s third, after unfairly under-acclaimed Oddity (read its review here), and it was supposed to be a spin-off from it. The majority of the movie is shot within the hotel setting, and it is shot so beautifully that when the scene changes to the hospital, it is a subconscious physical relief – such is the skill of the cinematographer Colm Hogan. And the best part? The subtlety of the setting. Not the writing, but only the cinematography. The writing has a few moments where it is quite on-the-nose and would have benefited from the audience’s subconscious interpretation of the emotions present. Then we move to the second almost-half where it goes to the place we were all eager to see. That is literally going to leave the viewer with jitters.

McCarthy is turning out to be one in the league of Creggor and Peele, creating solid horror movies one after the other. Or maybe more in the league of the Philippou Brothers, as he created movies from Irish folklore. In fact, he is doing something more to the genre, exploring it beyond the supernatural or foreign or psychological, to mystery. Oddity was a scary murder mystery with a sprinkling of supernatural, and Hokum is similar. This is the experimentation which is going to be the saviour of the craft of filmmaking. And now let us spare a moment for the actor, Adam Scott. In a movie which already has limited characters, Scott has a disproportionately high screen time. And he smashes in conveying his emotions as if the audience his him, he is the audience. And that is because the centre of the movie is not the starring of an acclaimed Hollywood actor, but the story. Always. Looking forward to more from McCarthy.
This is not a movie for the faint of heart, definitely a must-watch for horror lovers.

Diés Iraé

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https://indianexpress.com/

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Starring: Pranav Mohanlal, Sushmita Bhat, Gibin Gopinath, Shine Tom Chacko, Arun Ajikumar
Where to watch: Jio Hotstar
To watch or not to watch: One of the best horror movies to come out last year. Rahul Sadasivan knows his craft

Rohan (Pranav Mohanlal) is an architect, the son of a super successful architect, studied in the USA, living in Kerala in a mansion on his own, is a f**kboy who smokes up, drinks and throws lavish parties for his friends at this home. One day, he learns that his recently ex-girlfriend Kani (Sushmita Bhat) has unalived herself. Kani was a Bharatnatyam dancer, quite dedicated to her craft, but from a slightly less affluent family than Rohan (but then, who isn’t), and probably more into Rohan than he was into her. It is also implied that her unaliving herself was a direct consequence of them breaking up. Rohan feels a bit guilty and responsible for her, and goes to visit her family to offer his condolences. He goes up to her room, is reminded of her, picks up one of her red hairclips as a keepsake, and talks with her brother Kiran (Arun Ajikumar). He also meets Madhu (Gibin Gopinath) who is Kani’s neighbour and works as a contractor for Rohan’s father. Rohan comes back home and starts experiencing unexplained sounds at night. This escalates to him being beaten up brutally by an invisible force, and creepily enough, Kiran is thrown off the terrace to his death by the same force. This makes him seek guidance, and Madhu comes to the rescue. They find the cause of the haunting and how it can be undone. Exciting.

Rahul Sadasivan is attempting to do something fun in the horror genre, which, if knowledge and memory serve, has not been done till now in India. This movie is the third in this universe he has created, and while arguably the weakest of the three, it is still a brilliant watch. Pranav Mohanlal is a nepo baby, and yes, nepotism is bad for all the right reasons, Pranav is an example of when it can be good too. His performance doesn’t falter even for a moment and his demeanour as Rohan feels very authentic, and it probably is, given his pedigree. Where it is weaker than its predecessors is in the story, which lacks atmosphere and can be on-the-nose, and since the previous movies were so, so good, there is little to be done to make this one better than them, so temper the expectations accordingly. But it wins in execution, like the others. The build-up of the haunting and its impact on Rohan is slow and delibrate, leaves the viewer wondering in anticipation. The movie doesn’t deliver on the grandiosity of the title (which is Latin for Day Of Wrath, and it doesn’t explain which Day and whose Wrath it is about), but it makes for a good horror movie.

Malayalam cinema is where it’s at these days, especially in the genres of suspense/thriller and horror. It has given us bangers after bangers in recent years, and hopefully this continues. Bhoothakalam was definitely an award-winning calibre movie, working with story and atmosphere rather than any tropes. Diés Iraé does falter in that department – less atmosphere and more shock factor, even (cheap) jump scares and really sh*ts the bed towards the end. But here’s the thing, even then it is a good movie, not just by Indian standards, but by global standards. It introduces drama in the story, which was absent in the previous instalments by Sadasivan, and still less drama than the Conjuring/Insidious universe. Movies like these give hope to cinema, which has taken a nose dive in the recent years, and you only have to look through the recent posts on this website to get proof of that. Rahul Sadasivan is a director and writer to look out for; he gets it right! Watch this movie please. Support the cinema which doesn’t take the audience for granted.

Good Fortune

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https://www.joblo.com/

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Aziz Ansari, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh
Where to watch: PrimeVideo
To watch or not to watch: Aziz Ansari shines in his directorial debut, the story is great, but fizzles out towards the end

Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) is a low-ranking angel in the hierarchy, responsible for saving people from accidents while texting and driving. But like most low-ranking people, he aspires to grow and be responsible for more serious soul-saving acts, but Martha (Sandra Oh) tells him that needs to perform the duties given to him diligently and that he is not ready to handle more responsibility. But Gabriel is adamant, and he finds Arj (Aziz Ansari) who is working odd-jobs and living out of his car. Arj meets Jeff (Seth Rogen) while doing one of his jobs, and learns that Jeff is in need of an assistant, and being enterprising, applies for the job, gets it and starts working as Jeff’s assistant. His life is good for almost one full day, until he uses Jeff’s company credit card to pay for a dinner on a date, which leads to Jeff firing him. Arj then hits rock-bottom when his car is towed because of unpaid parking tickets. Gabriel seeing this, decides that Arj will be the recipient of his beneficence, and grants Arj’s wish to swap places with Jeff, just to show Arj that money is not what it is purported to be. But on the contrary, Arj’s life is better than he could have imagined, and money has solved all of his problems. Martha learns what Gabriel has done and take away his angel status, and will return it only when Arj agrees to swaps his life back with Jeff. This is followed by a commentary on the economy, humanity, and how the wealthy can help the non-wealthy live a better life. It makes for a good concept but not a good movie.

Good Fortune takes the old trope of body swaps and turns it on its head to make it more real. It is turning the adage “High School are the best years” on its head for people who peaked later in life. Imagine Freaky Friday where Lindsay Lohan was having a horrible time at school because of not fitting in, and she swaps with her mother, who has a successful career and a stable relationship; she would not be complaining about the swap. The same thing happens here, which you have read above, and the results are so refreshingly new and honest that it makes the viewer want to wait and see where it goes. And where it goes doesn’t complement the premise. It then loses its USP and becomes predictable and downright silly. It leverages a lot of real personalities of the actors, most obvious being Keanu Reeves. It is easy to imagine him believing that money is not all it is made out to be, because that’s how he is in real life. Seth Rogen is unfortunately not doing much, though there is a lot of potential in his character – either that was his understanding of the script, or he was not very interested, who knows.

This movie has its heart in the right place – it sends a message of empathy and understanding for others who might be dealing with things we are not aware of. But because it is not well made and becomes childish towards the end (when it began as really mature and real and adult-like, it is jarring), it is difficult to say how many people would be watching this movie and then learning from it. It does get points for doing the right thing for the right reasons by the right people. It will be exciting to see Aziz Ansari come out with something interesting down the line. Watch this one, you won’t hate it, but not love it either. Hopefully it changes your perspective towards people who are less-advantaged than you.

The Sheep Detectives

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https://theplaylist.net/

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson, Tosin Cole, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Conleth Hill, Mandeep Dhillon, Brett Goldstein, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Rhys Darby 
Where to watch: In theatres
To watch or not to watch: A whodunnit where sheep figure out whodunnit!? Yea! Absolutely! Don’t expect a Pixar level substance though

In a small village of Denbrook, England, there lives a shepherd named George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) in a trailer on the meadow with his flock of sheep, without much human contact. He treats his sheep like human, identifies their personalities and reads murder mystery books in the evening. It is then revealed that the sheep can talk like humans, have human emotions and characteristics – they would discuss the solution to the murders amongst them, and one sheep in particular, Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) would always figure out the killer. Then one morning, George is found dead outside his trailer from a heart failure. The sheep being well versed in murder mysteries, are able to correctly deduce that it’s a murder, which had escaped the town police Tim (Nicholas Braun), that is until an out-of-station reporter Elliot Matthews (Nicholas Galitzine) pushes the police to investigate. It turns out that there are multiple suspects – George didn’t compromise on his values, so he had made enemies of his neighbour shepherd Caleb (Tosin Cole) and town’s butcher Ham (Conleth Hill), the twins he had given up for adoption through the church right after their birth (and the death of his wife) because he was young and poor. It turns out his daughter Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon) was in town and had met George the night of his death, lied about her identity, lied about her alibi, and overall was the best suspect. But through the sheep’s investigation into the incident and their intervention, the real killer is revealed to the police and is captured. The End.

This movie achieves something which has proven to be difficult – it is entertaining and easy to understand for the kids, and engaging for the adults. It deals with complex emotions of loss, acceptance of people with differences, understanding of circumstances and values (maybe it is complex only for adults – young people might not find it difficult to accept). It is entertaining to see sheep crossing a road for the first time, going into town, leveraging their strengths and coming together as a group to arrive at the truth of their beloved shepherd. The visual effects are also top-class – the sheep look so life-like! and it has its moments of wit too! Then add to that the perfectly acted cameo by the brilliant, the divine, the magnificent Emma Thompson!
The issue with the movie is that it has twice as many characters as any other whodunnit – the townsfolk and the sheep. It becomes tough to keep track in the beginning and there are just too many backstories, which is fair to the characters, but the movie might have been better with a slightly more simplistic approach. And the ending! We need to rewind and go back to the era of no over-emotional drama towards the end, especially here. There is a murder to solve after all!

After a very long time, we have received a movie which will stand the test of time and will age gracefully. It has its heart in the right place and is not afraid to show it to the world. And after the disastrous adaptations of A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder, The Thursday Murder Club and the absurd take on Poirot by Branagh, The Sheep Detectives is a shot of hope. It has its flaws, is on the nose at times and of course, the aforementioned ending. All these things do take away from the storytelling, but do not ruin it for the viewer. And it has the potential to become a favourite family movie for the weekends and holidays. Watch it on a Sunday afternoon with kids around you, and you will enjoy it. Promise!

Send Help

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https://www.cinemablend.com/

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Xavier Samuel 
Where to watch: JioHotstar
To watch or not to watch: It is a fun movie, subverts genre in the best way and makes for a good movie for a night in, but somehow… you know… not that great

Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is a manager at a consulting company, is very efficient, slightly socially awkward, dresses for function rather than fashion and as a result is overlooked for a much-anticipated promotion. What rubs salt on wounds is that she is passed over for a person who has been at the company for only six months, versus her 7 years, passes off her work as his, and plays golf with the boss, hence the promotion. Speaking of the boss, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien) – he has recently inherited the company from his father, the same father who valued Linda’s contribution to the company and had all but promised her a vice-president position, which has kept her going. She is asked to prove herself once more on a trip to Bangkok on a private plane, where she decides that she has had enough and deletes her important document, right before the plane hits turbulence. Only Linda and Bradley survive the crash, Bradley with a serious injury. Now, our Linda is a Survivor enthusiast and has even auditioned for the show, so she is unarguably more suited to being stranded on an island than loafer-wearing Bradley. Linda nurses him, forages for food, builds shelter, basically is an all-around superstar, while Bradley is a whiney man-child who thinks he can build a raft off the island. She thrives on the island, really coming into herself (even her make-up is better), and he gets sunburnt – well, you get the gist. But there is more to Linda than what appears – she hasn’t forgotten how she was treated, and the bitterness is compounded by her loneliness, resulting in a movie which is a hybrid between slasher horror-comedy and thriller.

This movie is wont to leave viewers with confusion and opposing views because on the one hand it s well directed and written, but on the other, the twists are genre subverting in a way which doesn’t fit the narrative as a whole. Sam Raimi goes back to his Evil Dead roots with some of the gore and slasher scenes which give the movie an extra outworldly oomph (could have done without the gore, but it doesn’t take away anything from the movie, in fact, adds humour at some points). This movie is largely a two-handers with McAdams and O’Brien working with and over each other. Their dynamics in the movie as actors and characters they play is top-notch, and the reason why the movie is not trash. Another good thing is that the movie is original, with a premise most of us with day jobs will find relatable, and there is a ready hero of our stories in Linda at first blush.

If you check the internet, you will find people who have diametrically opposite views of the movie, and that is totally understandable. It is divisive in its greyness. Any more explanation and we will enter spoiler territory. Maybe it is something everyone decides for themselves – their choices in lives, and what makes them the way they are, which is not always and not in entirety in their control. Leaving you with such a crystal clear review, will definitely help you decide if you want to watch it or not. Not. It is a good movie, it is fun, thrilling, emotional and thought provoking. Do watch it with people so you can discuss and debate about it later.
(Interesting coincidence that this post is similar to the previous one in having Thailand as the location)

Fountain Of Youth

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https://www.thehindu.com/

Rating: 1 stars out of 5
Starring: John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, Eiza González, Domhnall Gleeson, Stanley Tucci
Where to watch: Apple TV
To watch or not to watch: What a disaster of a movie! Ritchie tried making a National Treasure and ended up with a Travesty

So, Luke (John Krazinski) is an art thief who has just stolen a precious painting from a collector in Thailand. He is on the run on a moped, chased by the goons in heavy SUVs carrying machine guns. Through clever manoeuvres and some witty repartee, he is able to shake off the goons, catch a train and be at peace only to wake up and find Esme (Eiza González) sitting opposite him. She is also there to retrieve the painting for a boss unknown. Since Luke is the hero, and he is witty, pretty good looking and well, because the director said so, he is able to escape Esme and onto London, where he meets his museum curator sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman), who is in the middle of a bitter divorce. Because he is a caring brother who is able to see beyond the length of his nose, and who knows what his sister wants more than the sister herself, he steals a Rembrandt, landing Charlotte in the middle of a losing custody battle. She protests, cries, swears at Luke, that she doesn’t want to be in the middle of this mess, but her actions don’t match it, similar to an alcoholic abusive partner in a relationship. She even drags her 11 year old musical prodigy son to the mix. But Luke is not doing this for himself, oh no, he is the noble one. He is doing this for a billionaire named Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson) who is suffering from liver cancer, and is looking for the fabled Fountain Of Youth which seems to be the only cure. This Fountain is secretive but still known, is difficult to find but hidden in famous paintings, is complex but people can blunder through with drills and hammers. They end up in Egypt, because we all have run out of imagination at this point, where everyone gathers somehow for the culmination.

There is no saving grace for this movie, it has no story, almost zero acting, no cohesion between scenes, or whatever else is required to make a movie even remotely palatable. The adage of “Show Not Tell” doesn’t apply here. Please don’t show and certainly don’t tell us anything, because you are ruining it. There is no flow of information as linear storyline is more fluid than Nolan storytelling, and not for the purpose of storytelling but for the purpose of convenience. They have essentially taken all the famous heist movies, shredded them, put them through a sieve to filter out the reason why they were worth a watch and only retained… hollowness, probably, then add the words “Journey” and “Adventure” like chia seeds throughout, which annoyingly get between the teeth. The embarrassing incident in your life that keeps you awake till 3 AM has nothing on the cringe dialogues. Only Luke had anything remotely interesting to say in the whole film, but since his character is a selfish gaslighter, it does nothing to his credit.

It is a cold day in hell indeed when Natalie Portman is out acted by Krasinski (not by González). Either she was not interested in the movie, or maybe her botox/fillers didn’t allow but man, she was so bad, only seconded by González. Ritchie, we understand your loyalty to the people you work with, but maybe not all relationships fit into our lives the way we want them to. Directing Swept Away should have taught you that. Ritchie has proven himself time and again with Sherlock Holmes, arguably one of the best adaptations, The Gentlemen, etc, and even the opening chase scene of this movie gave hope, but then it just stopped. This is the worst part, when good creators underperform, what hope do we have from anyone else?
For your sanity, please skip this movie, even as a second screen.

The Roses

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https://www.20thcenturystudios.com.au/

Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Kate McKinnon, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney
Where to watch: Jio Hotstar
To watch or not to watch: Well, rather to watch the original movie, or the trailer for this one multiple times. The movie, not so much

In their youth, while Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) was a struggling architect feeling creatively stifled, and Ivy (Olivia Colman) was trying to get by as a cook in a restaurant, they meet, have a whirlwind romance, and ten years later, have two kids. The issue is that they are poles apart in their approach towards life – while Ivy is maniacally carefree, Theo is a strict disciplinarian. They are also at different points in their career, with Ivy being a stay-at-home mother and Theo being a successful architect. Theo gifts a piece of land to Ivy to start her own restaurant, which though struggles in the beginning, soon becomes a raging success, while in the parallel, Theo’s career ends and he becomes a stay-at-home dad. This breeds resentment between the two, leading Theo to decide to divorce Ivy. Barry (Andy Samberg) is the couple’s long term friend is now the lawyer representing Theo, while Ivy is represented by Eleanor (Allison Janney) and in the middle is their home which they don’t want the other to have. Then they attempt to sabotage each other, which you have seen in the trailer.

This movie is a disappointment, to be honest, specially after the promise made to the audience in the trailer. It was promised to have its focus on the fights and attempted sabotage, Home Alone style, but that barely forms one-fifth of the movie, whereas the majority of the time spent is on building their relationship and bringing the story to the point where conflict between the characters start. The point where the movie ends, should ideally have been the middle of the movie to build the story to a conclusion. The current end of the movie feels like they ran out of steam, budget, runtime and frankly, the will to continue production. Must have been fun for the editor. Not. It fails to get the audience invested in their relationship. We are like their kids shipped off to boarding school and left their parents to their own devices Then there enters a one-joke character of Amy (Kate McKinnon) who finds Theo uncontrollably attractive and keeps making uncomfortable sexual remarks, which gets tiring in theory itself. This is in part because the leads don’t have any chemistry to begin with, while they are brilliant individually.

The saddest part of this movie is not the whole experience but the unrealised potential of the subject matter and undoubtedly talented comedy actors. It could have been a cult classic and listed as one of the best remakes (similar to Ocean’s series) but the lack of effort in writing the script with a clear agenda, is starkly visible. And if the makers, who have a lot invested in the movie, do not care enough to do what is required, an audience which is only looking for entertainment and doesn’t care either way about the movie, definitely has no reason to bother with it. Basically, it is a “not angry but disappointed” type of situation. Don’t watch it. There are better things in the world.

Caught Stealing

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https://www.newyorker.com/

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz,  Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Bad Bunny
Where to watch: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: It is a fun ride, delivers what it promises, which is a non-exceptional chase thriller in New York, filled with quirky eccentric characters

Hank (Austin Butler) is a sweet, borderline alcoholic bartender, who is more than an average ball player and one of the biggest fans of Giants. One night, after closing up the bar, he returns home with his non-committed long term girlfriend Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), only to find that his neighbour Russ (Matt Smith) is leaving for the airport to take care of his sick dad and has given the responsibility of his bad tempered cat Bud to Hank. Little does Hank know that Russ is running away from Russian mobsters who are out for Russ’ blood. They mistake Hank for Russ, and beat to a pulp so much so that he needs to be admitted to the hospital to remove his ruptured kidney. From there, he is contacted by narcotics detective Elise Roman (Regina King), who tells him that the ring of drugs run deeper than Russians. There is the Puerto Rican Colorado (Bad Bunny) who works with the Russians, who in turn owe Hasidic Drucker brothers (Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio), basically making a drug dealer’s Ponzi scheme. Fascinating.

The script is tight and clear, two of the most important and underrated things a script should be. It is fun to watch, doesn’t take itself too seriously (unlike Aronofsky’s Black Swan, The Whale, basically his entire filmography) and thus delivers what it promises, which is also not commonly seen these days. Another winning point in the movie’s favour is the character of Hank, who is unlike the macho, testosterone-filled action movie stars we see in these movies (cue: Jason Statham). Is he an alcoholic? Yes. Is he commitment-phobic? Also yes. But he calls his mother daily, is loyal and faithful to his non-girlfriend, takes care of a foul cat. And that’s adorable, and you don’t want the goons to be after someone so adorable. You are rooting for the guy. Even the bad guys aren’t totally bad; they are in a business and are only working to solve for the stolen merchandise. Some of them will observe the traditions set by their grandmothers and follow the rules of their religion (which added a little sumnin’-sumnin’, NGL). The real bad guys are the real surprise. This is a big shift from the regular grim Aronofsky flick, and it is a pleasant surprise that he is willing to experiment (and he goes with the body anti-dismorphia with Austin Butler).

Having said so many good things about the movie, there are some things which the movie fails to deliver. The individual gangsters are mostly cliched, the chase sequences predictable, the romantic storyline adding nothing much to the whole, etc. Basically, the parts that make it a whole, while flowing into each other seamlessly, are nonetheless not surprising. There are some unbelievable points like Hank being able to run right after getting his kidney removed, being a cliched hero with a traumatic past, a die-hard sports fan making him a stereotypical American, kinda make it a bit boring too. But here’s the thing, these parts also fit together, so you need to take the good with the bad, because altogether it is quite pleasant. Will highly recommend for a Friday night chill movie session. Austin Butler has great things ahead of him for sure.