MOVIES WITH DAVE
Lots of movies to cover this week. It’s been awhile since they’ve released five films in one weekend, so I guess I was due a busy week.
We have a sequel to a film about a World War II prisoner of war, another Predator movie this time with somehow even more gore, the true story of the youngest known FBI informant turned drug kingpin, a drama featuring perhaps my favorite performance of the year with Glenn Close, plus Paul Feig’s comedic take on a mystery thriller.
Let’s get straight to the reviews.
***
First up is “Unbroken: Path to Redemption.”
In this spiritual sequel to the 2014 film “Unbroken,” this movie picks up where the last one left off, telling the story of Olympian and World War II veteran Louis Zamperini (Samuel Hunt) after his harrowing treatment at the hands of the Japanese as a prisoner of war.
Haunted by nightmares of his torment, Louie’s quest for revenge drives him deeper into despair, driving a wedge between him and his new wife (Merritt Patterson), leaving the couple on the brink of divorce.
Now this is a new one.
A faith-based sequel to an Oscar nominated film. Don’t see that every day.
Frankly, from outside appearances, this movie seems to have everything going against it.
First of all, minus a producer and the people who played Louis’s parents, none of the original cast or crew from the first “Unbroken” were involved with this sequel.
So while the movie does follow the same historical character and is based on the same source material, the teams behind the two films are basically completely different.
Most worryingly though, the director for this spiritual sequel is Harold Cronk, the man who not only gave us two “God’s Not Dead” movies, but most recently directed my least favorite film of the year so far, “God Bless the Broken Road.”
So to say I was dreading this movie would be a massive understatement. After suffering through Cronk’s handwork last week, I couldn’t believe they were throwing out another film directed by him just a scant few days later.
Surprisingly though, this movie didn’t turn out as badly as I expected it would. If fact, I dare say it may be the best Harold Cronk directed movie I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, that’s still not saying much.
Samuel Hunt does a decent job in the role of Zamperini. He’s not amazing or anything, but he’s believable and even does fairly well in some of the film’s more emotional scenes.
On the other hand, Merritt Patterson’s performance stuck out like a sore thumb. It’s not like her acting was terrible, but she just felt completely out of place.
It’s like they took a woman from present day, gave her a 1940s wardrobe and threw her back in time. She didn’t sound the part at all. I simply couldn’t buy it.
Beyond our leads, the acting overall is a bit of a mixed bag.
Some of the side characters, like Louis’s family are great, while other minor roles with just a line or two feel oddly forced.
And though Zamperini’s story of overcoming PTSD and alcoholism is an interesting one, I can’t help but wonder how the movie would have turned out with more competent filmmakers behind it.
Like I said before, this movie wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it’d be.
As far as films published by Pure Flix go, I’d rank this as one of their best. But from the studio that gave us three “God’s Not Dead” movies, that’s not saying too much.
It’s far from a must see, but if the story of Louis Zamperini interests you and you’re dying for a faith based film, you could do far worse than giving this movie a watch.
It’s definitely not worth seeing in theaters though. Wait for the rental.
“Unbroken: Path to Redemption” is rated PG-13.
***
Next is “The Predator.”
When a young boy (Jacob Tremblay) accidentally triggers the universe’s most lethal hunters’ return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher (Olivia Munn) can prevent the end of the human race.
I’m writing this review a few days after seeing this film and I’m still not quite sure what to make of it.
Even though the Predator series isn’t exactly known for cinematic excellence, beyond the first one, I still had hopes that this latest one would be entertaining.
Adding to those hopes was the film’s director, Shane Black, who’s responsible for his share of quality movies including “The Nice Guys” back in 2016 and “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” one of my favorite Robert Downey Jr. movies.
Seriously, if you like Robert Downey Jr. and you haven’t seen “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” you’re missing out on of one of his funniest performances.
Sadly, this movie is a bit more of a mixed bag as far as Shane Black films go.
It still has Black’s trademarked witty dialogue, filled to the brim with quips and funny lines. Lines that had me laughing quite a few times throughout the film.
But despite often being funny, that joking, lighthearted dialogue was a bizarre contrast to the rest of the movie.
Namly the massive amount of over-the-top gore.
It was like the people in this movie were all water balloons filled to bursting with blood. It seemed the lightest touch made them all explode into massive pools of red.
It was absurd.
One moment the characters are all joking around, making the equivalent of “Yo Mamma” jokes, the next their intestines were being ripped open and put on display for the entire world to see.
The tone here is so erratic it’s almost like they were trying to make a Predator parody movie mocking the series.
The whole thing plays more like a dark comedy than an action adventure film and isn’t even close to anything resembling horror.
It didn’t help that every drop of blood was incredibly fake looking.
I’m not usually one to complain about movies using computer generated (CG) blood, but here it just sticks out like a sore thumb.
It wouldn’t be so bad, but they decided to flood just about every scene with gallons and gallons of the fake looking red stuff.
But phony CG blood is the least of this movie’s problems.
What really doomed this movie was the incoherent, and quite frankly, dumb story.
I don’t want to get into details to avoid spoilers, but my goodness is the plot here stupid.
What makes matters worse is the last third of the film decides to throw all sense out the window and becomes a blur of hollow hard to follow action scenes, muffled dialogue, and continuity errors.
I know beyond the first Predator film, the franchise isn’t exactly known for its quality, but this film was just something else.
If you’re a Shane Black fan, you’ll probably still find stuff to like here. Like I said before, despite the uneven tone, this is still an often funny movie if you’re into darker humor.
It’s a shame the ridiculously stupid story held this film back.
“The Predator” is rated R.
***
Third this week is “White Boy Rick.”
Based on a true story, this film tells the story of Richard Wershe, Sr. (Matthew Mc-Conaughey) and his son Richard Wershe Jr. (Richie Merritt), a teenager who became a street hustler, FBI informant, and drug kingpin all before he turned 16.
What an interesting story.
Before this film I had never heard of Richard Wershe Jr., the youngest informant in FBI history, and I have to say after watching this movie, I just feel sorry for everyone in Rick’s family.
Granted, the lot of them didn’t necessarily make the best choices, but they also were handed an awfully short stick in life and the FBI certainly didn’t seem to help matters much.
Unfortunately, this film sadly falls short of the mark in portraying Rick’s regrettable life story.
Starting off with the good though, I thought McConaughey was excellent here. The man rarely puts out a poor performance and this film is no exception.
I only wish McConaughey could have been in the movie more. He was easily the best aspect of the film.
Sadly, McConaughey’s outstanding acting ability only highlights how inexperienced the actor behind Richard Jr. is.
Before being cast in this film, Richie Merritt was a high school student with zero acting experience. And unfortunately it shows.
The guy just has no emotional range. For nearly the entire film, Richie just acts like a subdued, monotoned teenager.
He doesn’t have any charisma and it’s mostly just the same one note character the whole movie.
What was even worse though were the few times where he tried to add some emotion during the film’s more pivotal scenes.
And he just couldn’t pull it off.
I don’t want to be too hard on the guy considering this was his first gig, but I really wish they could have gotten an actor with some experience for Rick’s role.
I know the filmmakers were hoping for an authentic performance by casting a kid from the inner city, but to me it just comes across as a gimmick to catch the attention of the Hollywood reporters. It certainly didn’t make for a better movie, that’s for sure.
But beyond the acting, the plot itself also holds this movie back.
The first two thirds of the film is pretty disjointed and often times hard to follow thanks to a sizable catalogue of minor characters.
Every five minutes I was sitting in the theater thinking something along the lines of “Who is he?” or “Now who is she?” and “Wait, who are they?”
I just couldn’t keep up with who was who. Up until the last third of the film, everything was just a jumble of back room deals and betrayals, and I just couldn’t keep it all sorted for the life of me.
Thankfully by the time the third act rolls around, the movie become much more streamlined and I enjoyed the film much more as a result.
The ending here comes together surprisingly well. I just wish I enjoyed the rest of the movie as much as I enjoyed the last 30 minutes.
It’s a shame because Rick’s story is quite compelling. With some better casting and a story editor, this could have been one of the year’s best.
As it is though I can only give a halfhearted recommendation for the ending and perhaps to diehard McConaughey fans.
“White Boy Rick” is rated R.
***
Fourth is “The Wife.”
After nearly forty years of marriage, Joan and Joe Castleman (Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce) seem to be perfect complements. Where Joe enjoys his very public role as a great novelist, Joan pours herself into the private role of a great man’s wife.
As a reward for their lifetime shared compromises, Joe is about to be awarded the Nobel Prize for his acclaimed and prolific body of work. But along the way a tale of secrets, betrayals, and love is slowly revealed.
This movie completely blindsided me.
I knew absolutely nothing about “The Wife” before sitting down to watch it. No trailer, no nothing. And I ended up being thoroughly blown away.
Glenn Close is absolutely incredible here.
Her character here is strong and brilliant, yet at the same time relatable and so much deeper than she appears at first glance.
Close pulled this role off perfectly. Her performance here might be my favorite of the year so far. Granted it’s still September and I’m sure we’ll have plenty more Oscar contenders to come in the following months. Even so, her portrayal of Joan Castleman is going to be incredibly tough to beat. Jonathan Pryce while less of a standout, still pulls off the role of the charming, if incredibly flawed, great author. The dialogue between our two leads is where the film really stands out though. One minute the two of them are arguing in the way that only two people who have known each other for decades can, the next they’re having a touching family moment together. It all comes to a head towards the end of the film, leading to a scene that left me slack-jawed and shocked. I was so stunned I got goosebumps. Even if the rest of the film wasn’t already compelling, it would have been worth it all just for that one scene alone. Sadly this movie isn’t quite perfect. During a few scenes in the film, the movie cuts back to when Joe and Joan first met in college. And in comparison to the rest of the film, their acting just isn’t up to snuff. The younger actors aren’t necessarily bad, but their performances just don’t hold a candle to the skill of Close and Pryce. They didn’t even feel like the same people. The gap in talent was just too much. Those few scenes didn’t impact my overall enjoyment of the film too much though. This movie is a absolute much watch if you’re a fan of Glenn Close. Even if you’re just someone who enjoys simple character driven dramas, this film is definitely not one to be missed. “The Wife” is rated R. *** Finally, last this week is “A Simple Favor.” After her best friend Emily’s (Blake Lively) sudden disappearance, Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), a straight laced unassuming single mom, desperately seeks to uncover truth in this thriller filled with twists and betrayals, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge. There’s one very important thing left out of the synopsis for this movie. It’s billed as a mystery thriller in the same realm as something like “Gone Girl.” And to be fair it certainly does have many of the elements of a mystery movie. Make no mistake though. This film is first and foremost a comedy. It’s directed by Paul Feig. You know, the guy who made “Bridesmaids,” “Spy,” and the 2016 “Ghostbusters” remake. Yes, it’s a bit darker than Feig’s other films, but at its core this movie is still a comedy. Sure they throw some creepy mysterious music in the background, but practically every piece of dialogue here is played up for laughs. But most surprisingly of all? The whole thing actually ended up quite funny. In fact, this movie made me laugh quite a bit. Certainly more than I was expecting and much more so than Feig’s last film, “Ghost-busters,” a movie which was advertised a lot more as comedy than “A Simple Favor” was. I’ve really been a fan of Anna Kendrick’s work lately and I couldn’t imagine anyone better in this role. She certainly was a big aspect of what made this film so entertaining. The scenes with Kendrick and Blake Lively were definitely some of the funnier moments in the film and I thought the two of them ended up really working well off of each other. There’s tons of really funny lines here, most of which got a laugh from both me and everyone else in the audience, not to mention a few standout comedic side characters, and plenty of situational humor throughout. All this squarely placed in the middle of this story primarily about a missing woman and murder. This movie really is Paul Feig doing a cometic spin on something like “Gone Girl” and somehow it miraculously works. It even works pretty well as a mystery. Granted it’s not on the level of something like “Searching” or of course “Gone Girl,” but it still kept me engrossed up until the very end. Well done Feig. You pulled off a mystery thriller comedy, and it somehow wasn’t all a complete tonal mess. You kept me guessing, you kept me intrigued, but most of all, you kept me laughing. I could see people hoping for a straight mystery thriller being disappointed by this film, after all that is what it’s marketed as, but for me this was without a doubt one of most entertaining genre twisting movies I’ve seen in awhile. “A Simple Favor” is rated R.