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She wakes up in a locked room, chained to the wall as the prisoner of Howard (John Goodman). Unlike Room’s Old Nick, though, Howard seemingly has no plans to rape or kill Michelle; instead, he insists he saved her from the auto accident for her own protection. If Howard is to be believed, the rest of the world has been wiped out through poisonous air (released by the Russians? The military? Aliens? He isn’t sure), and the only survivors are himself, Michelle and Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr.), the sweet if simple handyman who spent years helping Howard construct his underground bunker. Howard eventually releases Michelle from her confined quarters and allows her full run of the makeshift home (which includes a kitchen and a living room), hoping that the three of them can spend the next one or two years coexisting as a happy family until the outside air is breathable again. Michelle, however, makes every effort to escape, all the while wondering if there’s any truth at all to Howard’s whopper of a conspiracy theory. This is the part of the review where I promise not to reveal more for fear of spoilers, but honestly, what is there to really spoil? 10 Cloverfield Lane is a movie that ends up being too clever for its own good, becoming utterly predictable in its relentless attempts at unpredictability. When the plot looks as if it will thrust, it of course will parry, and the film further dilutes any genuine surprises by often telegraphing its intentions ahead of time. The trio of scripters also cram in one subplot too many, with its clumsy presence only there to spin the story off into another (expected) direction. This isn’t to say 10 Cloverfield Lane is a bust—terrific performances by the three leads and debuting director Dan Trachtenberg’s effective staging (the bunker atmosphere alternates between friendly and foreboding) are worthy enough to earn a modest recommendation. Just don’t expect more surprises than one would find in any given episode of Scooby-Doo.
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT
MAR 23- MAR 29, 2016
// The occasional Steve Carell aside, comedians aren’t often given the opportunity to flex their dramatic muscles, so it’s nice to see the hilarious Tina Fey playing it straight in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Based on Kim Parker’s memoir The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the film finds Fey cast as Parker, a TV news journalist who leaves the comfort of her stateside desk and embarks on a new career path as a war correspondent covering Middle Eastern conflicts. Fey is excellent as Parker, peppering her performance with humorous asides 42 but otherwise playing up the character’s
questionable adrenaline-junkie tendencies, and the impressive supporting cast includes Margot Robbie, a lovably roguish Martin Freeman, and Alfred Molina (at one point channeling Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek). If the film never delves too deeply into the sociopolitical aspects of its setting (especially when compared to the great slate of comparable titles from the 1980s, like Under Fire and Salvador), it’s still gripping enough to make it a sound vehicle for Fey as she tackles the heavy lifting. So when does Amy Poehler get her shot?
ZOOTOPIA
/// For the sake of the children—heck, for your own sake—be sure not to rapidly skim the multiplex marquee and accidentally amble into Zoolander 2 instead of Zootopia. While one ranks as an atrocity worthy of living in infamy, the other is an absolute delight, certain to satisfy adults as much as (even more than?) the small fry. That Zootopia proves to be such a joyous occasion is something of a surprise, since off-season animated efforts typically tend to be on the rancid side (e.g. The Lorax, Gnomeo & Juliet). Yet here’s a family film that would be welcome any time of the year. At its center is a marvelous new character: Judy Hopps (voiced by Once Upon a Time’s Ginnifer Goodwin), a smalltown rabbit who dreams of moving to the sprawling metropolis of Zootopia and becoming the first bunny to ever serve as a police officer, a vocation that has always been filled by more imposing animals such as rhinos and tigers. Judy nevertheless graduates from the academy and earns her badge, but the police chief Bogo (Idris Elba) is unimpressed and relegates her to meter-maid duty. Rather than slapping tickets on cars, she would be much more interested in joining the other cops in tackling the mystery of why approximately a dozen citizens have vanished without a trace. A chance encounter with a con-artist fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) provides the impetus she needs to pursue the case on her own, and, with the reluctant help of Nick, she uncovers a labyrinthine plot with fearful implications. Zootopia crafts an unexpectedly complex mystery, one that also allows for an examination of cultural differences and the poisonous prejudices that result in being judged by the color—and, in this anthropomorphic world, the texture—of one’s skin. It’s particularly apropos given the current mood of fear and loathing in this exceedingly nasty election year. The beauty of Zootopia, though, is that you can be unaware of the subtext and still reap the benefits of an imaginatively designed endeavor packed with huge laughs.
THE WITCH
/// One of the most memorable sequences in the otherwise much-ado-about-nothing revenge yarn The Revenant is the one which finds Leonardo DiCaprio’s character getting savagely mauled by a bear. Yet even that grizzly comes across as only slightly more menacing than Yogi Bear when compared to Black Philip, the goat who proves to be a key character in the new horror opus The Witch. Black Philip isn’t the only animal who may or may not be a harbinger of evil— there’s also a rabbit whose eyes are so freakishly penetrating that all visions of the laughable Night of the Lepus will be immediately exorcised from moviegoers’ memories. And then there’s Mother Nature, presented not as nurturer but as nightmare, at one with the Satanic emissary living deep within the bowels of the forest. All of these elements combine to make The Witch another winner in the indiehorror sweepstakes, joining the likes of The Babadook and It Follows in its ability to establish an unsettling atmosphere of dread and not let up until the light once more breaks across the auditorium. Reminiscent of such past works as the superb 1996 film version of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and the astounding 1922 Swedish docudrama Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (formerly banned in the U.S. but now available on Criterion DVD), this confident undertaking by writer-director Robert Eggers (making his feature-film debut in both capacities) is set in 1630 New England, wherein a family of six is forced out of its community for some apparently minor indiscretion—it’s never clearly stated, but it appears the head of the household, William (Ralph Ineson), was caught preaching without a license. The family relocates to a small cabin on the edge of a formidable forest, whereupon the baby is soon snatched by an elderly witch residing in the woods. No one actually sees the witch, but everyone in the family—William, wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), blossoming daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), curious son Caleb (William Scrimshaw), and bratty twins Mercy (Ellie Grainger) and Jonas (Lucas Dawson)—senses the evil all around them. They turn to their rigid Christian doctrine for strength, failing miserably to ever trust in—or turn to—each other. As a result, accusations of consorting with the devil fly fast and furious, with most of the fingers pointed at Thomasin. More than just a terror tale, The Witch harbors several weighty themes, including the fear of the feminine mystique in a patriarchal society as well as the danger of placing too much faith in a puritanical belief without allowing other emotions an equal opportunity to breathe. These
notions are punched across not only by Eggers’ persuasive sense of time and place but by the forceful work of the entire cast (Taylor-Joy and Ineson are particularly impressive). It’s just a shame the ending registers as a cop-out. C
RISEN
// The small companies that have been producing all those faith-based films that routinely pop up in theaters have financially done so well, it’s surprising more major studios haven’t jumped on the Biblical bandwagon. Affirm Films’ latest offering is Risen, and what’s perhaps most surprising about the film is its restraint. Most other faith-based films of recent vintage tend to preach only to the choir—and by choir, I don’t mean Christians in general but those dangerous armies of hypocritical right-wing zealots. Yet Risen is a religious picture measured enough to appeal to filmgoers of all persuasions—in other words, no one had the bright idea of casting Rush Limbaugh as one of the disciples or hiring Ben Stein to serve as the voice of God. It’s just too bad it’s not a bit better, since its modesty also leads to a noticeable lack of —and pun absolutely not intended—passion. Joseph Fiennes plays the central character of Clavius, a Roman officer who’s ordered by Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) to locate the missing body of Jesus after it disappears from the cave in which it was laid following His crucifixion. As Clavius sets out on his investigation, gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses, he starts to wonder if Christ was indeed more than just a man. In essence, Fiennes is playing George Clooney’s role in the film-within-the-film of Hail, Caesar!, minus the ample laughs. Fiennes is fine in the part, and those keeping track of what the Harry Potter gang has been doing will be interested to learn that Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) appears as Clavius’ assistant. But director Kevin Reynolds (Waterworld), who also co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Aiello, often adopts the restrictive impulses of those otherwise sturdy religious flicks of yesteryear, the ones which wouldn’t even allow the camera to gaze upon the face of Jesus (or, rather, the extra cast as Him). Risen does give us a Jesus in actor Cliff Curtis, but he remains a beatific cypher, and the takeaway is that, in the same distancing manner as those black-themed pictures told through the eyes of white protagonists, here’s a Biblical yarn related not through Christ Himself or even his disciples but rather an individual late to the party. CS