Christopher Schroeder

Tag: movie review

  • Neither Silly Nor Smart

    Neither Silly Nor Smart

    I expected to enjoy The End of Oak Street, as credible critics suggested I would, more than I did.

    This movie, which is written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, tells the story of a suburban housewife, and aspiring novelist, named Denise (Anne Hathaway) and her disintegrating marriage to Greg (Ewan McGregor) as their neighborhood is teleported to prehistoric times. Denise must save her children Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery) and their acquaintance Jeannette (Jordan Alexa Davis) by jumping into a shimmering, and blinking, wormhole blob that returns them to their present where she warns, and saves, her husband and neighbors.

    I like others was intrigued by the Amblin allusions, such as the suburban adventure and physical effects that appeal to kids and grownups. These were supplemented with thriller conventions more associated with Mitchell, and make me wonder whether the movie was more dystopian than I initially believed.

    The effort is an inconsistent tone that for me highlighted awkward performances and stilted scenes. As a result, it wasn’t the “refreshingly, doesn’t care,” and fun, movie that some, such as NPR Pop Cultural Happy Hour host Linda Holmes and her guests, claim it is.

    Holmes, who in her accompanying newsletter surveys Mitchell’s previous efforts, argues that he and his cinematographer Mike Gioulakis use experimental techniques without compromising control. As a result, she believes believes that this hybrid action-adventure horror movie, which relies upon a simple structure, a satisfying theme, and a short running time, is intentionally “raucous and silly” with “over-the-top” moments as an entertaining experience that viewers deserve.

    I’m unsure how to reconcile this analysis, which seems plausible and persuasive, with the mindless summer entertainment, and more fun in a group, conclusion. Does fun need the neutralization of perception and reflection? What makes this movie any different from other mindless entertainment with which we’re amusing ourselves to death?

    The problem isn’t a lack of potential. For example, Denise recounts her experience in a replacement manuscript — her previous one is lost in a basement flood — that is published as a book, and is presumably why her family seems wealthier at the end than they were in the beginning, which raises questions about 1980s intersectionality that are unacknowledged.

    The ending in contrast does acknowledge a different problem, and potential. The military has secured Denise’s neighborhood, scientists are investigating wormholes, and Denise’s family hosts a barbecue with Jeannette’s parents and two versions of her.

    The second Jeannette, which is presumably a cloned version, is required, or resolved, by the plot. Denise after leaping into the wormhole and returning to their present orders a pizza that Greg delivers — he had been delivering pizzas to Denise’s dismay after he was fired from Chrysler, and her kids and she witnessed his death by dinosaurs in the prehistoric world — and apparently also warns Jeannette’s parents, who seemingly escape with her.

    Any residual escapist entertainment evaporated for me the moment two Jeannettes appeared at the barbecue. They however and the others quickly disappear with the end of the movie, which concludes with even more unasked questions.

    I suppose that Jeanette’s parents couldn’t be convinced, especially in such a short span of time, to leave her behind. I also suppose that Greg didn’t even consider whether to get the rest of his family because he was delivering pizzas without them, and wasn’t told he was escaping an imminent tragedy.

    I enjoy entertainment, and even escapism, as much as anyone. I just resent any time such experiences encourage me to ignore questions, and require me to sacrifice skepticism and relinquish reason, especially while aspiring to be something more substantial.

  • Nowhere to Go

    Nowhere to Go

    Motor City is an unnecessary movie with little entertainment value.

    This crime drama, which was written by Chad St. John, offers a familiar story. A small-time drug dealer (Alan Ritchson) who falls in love with a more powerful dealer’s (Ben Foster) girlfriend (Shailene Woodley) is falsely imprisoned, escapes with help from his friends, and spends the lives of this girl and his friends, and the rest of his life, obtaining revenge.

    This movie, which is set in 1970s Detroit has next to no dialogue, which obviously foregrounds the acting, designing, and directing (Potsy Pocirocoli). These elements strain and crumble under the pressure.

    The most convincing performance is Woodley’s, who plays a supporting character. The leads are often comical.

    The settings sometimes evoke 1970s Detroit even though the movie was filmed in New Jersey. The problem is that this setting has little if any significance to the story unless it vaguely suggests something mechanical about the main characters.

    The costumes were conventionally cliched. The sound design, and the classic 1970s rock sound at its center, is often loud, and seemingly supposed to support the narrative although again in unclear ways.

    These limitations and others suggest questionable directing decisions. These are limited however by the predictable plot and cliched script.

    I initially wondered whether the story was just starting slowly, and soon suspected that the dialogue restriction was an intentional challenge. If so, it was more than this movie could meet, which makes it both unappealing and unnecessary.

  • An Invitation To What?

    An Invitation To What?

    The new movie The Invite, which is widely recommended, is a summer diversion, and not much more.

    Angela (Olivia Wilde) secretly invites their upstairs neighbors Pína (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton), whose late-night sex has bothered both her husband Joe (Seth Rogen) and her. Their neighbors, who apologize for the noise and elaborate on its origins, ultimately help Angela and Joe realize that they need to reset their marriage or end it.

    This movie, which is a remake of a 2020 Spanish version by Cesc Gay based upon his 2015 play, has also been adapted into French, Italian, Swiss, Russian, Czech and South Korean. This version, which was written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones and directed by Wilde, allowed Wilde to fulfill a dream about the proper way to make a movie, and also why she dedicated it to her late mentor.

    The best part I believe is the ensemble. Rogen and Norton lack the range of, and as a result are less convincing than, Cruz and Wilde, and could have been pushed for more. Nonetheless, the four manage and maintain the tension, and prevent it from escaping until the end, which is a credit to both the cast and the director and challenges a general concern about directors who direct themselves.

    The most challenging part for me was a the story, which at least in this version suffers from a narrative identity crisis and never finds its way. It starts strong, and adds potentially productive complications — how should neighbors confront each other, and how do new relationships complement or complicate longer, and more established, ones? — but never settles into a compelling conversation, which is ultimately confusing.

    This this movie a discussion of communal living or conventional marriage or love and loss? A coming-of-age-in-later-life story? A story about inevitable disappointments, including the limits of love, or even the a regular disconnect between dreams and daily life?

    The answer is likely a mix of these but as such remains messy, and thus superficial. Part of this challenge could be the effects of adaptation, translation, or both, but the resulting story seems to suffer as much from being workshopped (or focus-grouped) too much.

    I wonder about the discussion between Joe and Angela the next morning or among any of them in the elevator or lobby the next time. Such omissions I realize can be intentional, but these choices succeed when the purpose is convincing and clear.

    As a result, I’d recommend this moving as a summertime diversion, a more sophisticated one than any action blockbuster and yet little more satisfying.