The Measure of a Man (2015)

Directed by Stéphane Brizé
Country: France

Movie Review: “The Measure of a Man”, whose original French title “La Loi du Marché” literally means ‘the law of the market’, mirrors the social/economic crisis that fustigates the contemporary France. The skilled Vincent Lindon, awarded 'Best Actor' in Cannes, plays Thierry Taugourdeau, an unemployed 51-year-old factory worker who invests everything in specialized courses that seem not to be enough to get a job. He’s been looking for the smallest opportunity for more than a year now, after an unfair dismissal, and the financial problems are now starting to grow as a snowball. Thierry is a considerate family man who dedicates time to spend with his disabled child and goes to dance classes with his supportive wife in order to keep his mind sane. To guarantee this state of mind, he also refuses to follow his former co-workers into court and ask for an indemnity. It’s easy to conclude that his self-esteem and confidence hit the bottom. After simulating a job interview at the employment training center he’s enrolled, he gets the following remarks: the inability to smile, the way of dressing, the wrong posture when he’s sitting down on the chair, the low rhythm of speech, and the lack of enthusiasm when answering the questions. Despite the difficulties, Thierry is accepted as a security guard in a well-monitored supermarket, regaining his financial stability while witnessing a variety of theft cases committed by customers and employees. Having gone through hard times, he continues doing his job in a conscious way, but can’t avoid showing some uneasiness when listening to the motives that led these people to steal. In one case, involving a long-time employee, a lamentable tragedy occurs, and the silent Thierry becomes more and more overwhelmed about the way the management often reacts. Ambiguity surrounds the last scene of the film, making us wonder if Thierry will continue in the job for the sake of his family, or if this is too emotionally strained for him to handle. Director Stéphane Brizé, who also co-wrote with Olivier Gorce, avoids sentimental manipulations and hurls an actual, urgent theme that mixes family, work, and morality. Not disregarding his straightforward filmmaking style, the film caught me mostly because of the powerful acting by Vincent Lindon, who previously had worked with Brizé in “Madame Chambon” and “A Few Hours of Spring”.

Concussion (2015)

Directed by James Landesman
Country: USA

Movie Review: In the self-composed drama, “Concussion”, Will Smith is Dr. Bennett Omalu, a Nigerian forensic pathologist who discovers a disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is commonly associated with football players who were exposed to recurrent violent blows to the head, depending on their position in the field. While working at the Pittsburgh coroner's office, Dr. Bennett comes across the dead body of the former Pittsburgh Steelers center, Mike Webster, who died miserably in his pick-up truck after years complaining about painful headaches and forgetfulness. Intrigued by the scans of Webster’s brain, the very qualified and respectful doctor requires additional expensive exams, even if he has to pay out of his pocket, in order to figure out the real cause of the victim’s death. His conclusions become scientifically unshakeable when another three former players died of the same disorder. The discovery, initially discarded by the NFL, now forcefully draws the attention of the media and the new NFL commissioner. However, instead of thanking him properly for triggering awareness of the issue, the NFL tries to destroy Dr. Bennett’s reputation, inflicting on him an enormous pressure to make him break off the theory. Not for too long, though, since the truth comes always around, sooner or later. The directorial sophomore feature by Peter Landesman, who wrote based on the GQ article ‘Game Brain’ by Jeanne Marie Laskas, also stars Alec Baldwin as Julian Bailes, an allied doctor who’s very familiar with the sport in question and was Webster's close friend, and Albert Brooks, who gives a first-class performance as the county coroner and Bennett’s boss, Dr. Cyril Wecht. We’re before a super-interesting story given to us in a so-so execution whose narrative gaps and technical flaws aren’t as salient as the story itself.

Trumbo (2015)

Directed by Jay Roach
Country: USA

Movie Review: The American screenwriter and novelist, Dalton Trumbo, is heartily characterized in this biographical political drama, shot under the direction of Jay Roach, whose career indicates the Austin Powers film series as highlights. John McNamara wrote the script, an adaptation of the 1977 biography ‘Dalton Trumbo’ by Bruce Cook. By giving a flawless performance, Bryan Cranston makes the most of the opportunity to represent the title character with accuracy, helping to minimize the setbacks of Mr. Roach’s facetious approach, which obviously influenced the final product. Unfairly accused of conspiring against the country just for declaring himself a staunch communist enlisted in the American Communist Party, the radical and yet inoffensive, Trumbo, is not only put into public shame by the Un-American Activities Committee but also arrested and blacklisted. Fearless, he starts a clandestine campaign to show how perfidious the government acts, doing everything in a calculative, patient way to have his name cleared. With this objective in mind, Trumbo counts on a group of loyal screenwriters and uses his fabulous wife and children as personal staff when he comes up with the idea of working at home, writing and fixing scripts under multiple pseudonyms for the cheap King Brothers Productions. In a later phase, finally willing to hold in his hands the two deserved Oscars he had won but could never touch, he gets full credit for the brilliant screenplays of “Spartacus” and “Exodus”, publicly announced by Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger, respectively. From all his opponents, a special mention goes to the cynical 35-million-reader columnist, Hedda Hopper, magnificently performed by Helen Mirren. The film starts vivaciously engaging, loses intensity in its uneven middle part, just to return in big for the ending. Trumbo’s genius didn’t have a genius treatment here. Still, we can seize the nature, temper, and resolution of a man who deserves all our respect.

Still the Water (2014)

Directed by Naomi Kawase
Country: Japan / others

Movie Review: Under the direction of the little-known Japanese filmmaker, Naomi Kawase (also credited as screenwriter, producer, and editor), “Still the Water” moves using a languid pace and embraces a strange intimacy. Set on one of the limestone islands of the Amani archipelago, it tells the story of a quiet 16-year-old kid, Kaito (Nijiro Murakami), who’s not happy with his mother, disapproving her behavior since his father left home a few years before. It’s not that she’s not gentle or cares about him, but because the most of her time is spent with lovers and not much is left to her son, who often wanders alone or hangs out with his best friend, Kyoko (Jun Yoshinaga). The film’s opening scene leads us to foresee a mysterious tale that never actually happens. During one night of traditional festivity, Kaito finds the body of a back-tattooed man floating on the waters of the seashore. This incident becomes the talk of the population who wonder if it was an accident or a crime, and if the man was a tourist or one of the common surfers that come to the island. The curiosity comes from Kaito’s strange behavior that indicates he knows this man from somewhere. The sincere friendship between Kaito and Kyoko tends to evolve into a beautifully affecting love, but Kaito’s problems hamper him from diving completely in a full physical relationship. Kyoko has also problems of her own since her mother, a shaman who stands on the threshold of Gods and humans, is dying sick. Her father, a man of the sea and experienced surfer, offers all his support and love, enabling a family cohesion that Kaito lacks, even when occasionally contacting with his likable father, a tattoo artist now living in Tokyo. A sweet sensitivity streams from the images, even from the most painful ones - those related to death - in a film that is culturally strong in its dual elements of life and death, family and love, Gods and humans, and nature and reason. However, and despite some impactful moments presented over tranquil landscapes and at the sound of melancholic piano tunes, I found certain parts not only long and occasionally vacillating, but also intricate in its philosophical considerations. Sort of lost in translation. Patient viewers may be able to find something worthy to dig out from this cryptic coming-of-age drama.

Pawn Sacrifice (2015)

Directed by Edward Zwick
Country: USA

Movie Review: Edward Zwick (“Glory”, “The Last Samurai”, Blood Diamond”), directing from a script by Steven Knight (“Eastern Promises”, “Locke”), builds up the real story of the American chess grandmaster, Bobby Fischer, played confidently by a re-established Tobey Maguire, lately relegated to minor roles in minor features (“Labor Day”) and TV mini-series, when not embodying Spider-Man. With a strong obsession for chess, the highly intelligent and yet emotionally unstable Brooklyn boy, Fischer, decided he wanted to be the world champion when he was still a kid. Upset for not knowing who his father was, and having a hard time with his Russian mother who insists on bringing her boyfriends home, Fischer is always demanding silence in order to fully concentrate on his objective. This two-player board game was dominated by the Soviets for 24 years, and now, during the cold war, the tension and rivalry were ablaze. Not a big deal for the defiant Fischer, who simply denounces, during the 1962 tournament in Bulgaria, that the Russians are cheating, quitting afterwards while the controversy spreads. Three years after, his straightforwardness still impresses a pro-bono lawyer, Paul Marshall (Michael Stuhlbarg), who together with a Catholic priest and former player, Bill Lombardy (Peter Sarsgaard), will become his best advisors and enthusiasts toward the great victory in the 1972 World Chess Championship played in Iceland. The adversary was the Russian star and champion, Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber), who agreed to play under Fischer’s requests – no noisy cameras in the background, no audience, and the introduction of a wooden board – after winning the first two games, the last of them because Fischer refused to play in such a distractive perimeter. In addition to the games and the atmosphere that surrounds them, we can follow the paranoia and delusional psychosis that keep on growing in Fischer, leaving his sister worried to the point of going to talk with the American federation. This biographical drama can be easily appreciated, thanks to the great performance of Mr. Maguire, who obviously usurps most of the screen time. The direction of Mr. Zwick, despite consistent with the accounts he wants to portray, doesn’t stand out. That’s the reason why the film alternates between serenely easygoing and slightly exciting. And I’m saying this with the perfect notion that excitement in chess is not exactly the same as in boxing. Stealthily, director and actor unite forces to make “Pawn Sacrifice” watchable, but not good enough to win a place among the special biopics. If I had to choose a pawn to sacrifice here, it would be Zwick’s intermittent approach whose excessive control blocks some of the vitality required to take a solid step further.

Junun (2015)

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Country: USA

Movie Review: Topnotch American director, Paul Thomas Anderson, author of a considerable number of masterpieces that confers him the title of one of the best filmmakers of our times, frees himself from fictional scripts and lands in India, where he loosely captures the musical and spiritual encounter between Radiohead’s guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, the Israeli multi-instrumentalist and composer, Shye Ben Tzur, and the Indian ensemble, Rajasthan Express. The 54-minute documentary, “Junun”, sparse in words, assembles several moments of their three-week stay at the Mehrangarh Fort by invitation of the illustrious Maharaja of Jodhpur. From that glorious musical meeting, an album and this film came out, both with the title “Junun”, to envelop us with contagious rhythms, and a perfect blending of exotic Indian melodies and occasional jazzy touches. If the music really made my day, the film, combining that same music with breathtaking landscapes of the Fort’s surroundings and a few close-ups of the performers, experiences some obstacles that sometimes aren't so easy to overcome. The handheld camera is not always objective and often loses consistency with sudden movements that may suggest some sort of dance, or just a relaxed, enjoyable time. Maybe, as it happened to me, the enlightened tunes took Mr. Anderson to another dimension, hitting his heart and soul in such a way that he just decided not to go by the rules or follow what we expect from a documentary. Additionally, the editing isn’t perfect either and should have been carefully considered. Even though, it was very interesting to observe how contrasting was the posture of these amazing musicians – in one hand we witness the serious commitment to the music, and in the other, the immense fun and joy in playing together, producing sounds that alternate from frantically danceable to floatingly celestial. Prayers and blackouts sometimes interrupt the musical rituals, failing to validate the popular saying that in India they have ‘no toilet, no shower, but full power, 24-hour’. Nothing withholds the harmonious tunefulness pitched by this cross-cultural collaboration. Still, I would never think about equating this minor work with Mr. Anderson’s previous fictional gems.

Life (2015)

Directed by: Anton Corbijn
Country: USA / UK

Movie Review: Anton Corbijn is a Dutch photographer, music video director, and filmmaker who deserves accolade for his first two films – “Control”, the amazingly photographed biopic of Ian Curtis, the enigmatic leader of the English grey band Joy Division, and “The American”, an unforgettable low-key European crime thriller, starring George Clooney as a hitman. The following move consisted in the less spellbinding, but still solid, “A Most Wanted Man” with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as the protagonist. I was expecting a motivating return this year, with “Life”, another biographical drama focused on the Magnum photographer, Dennis Stock, circumspectly played by Robert Pattinson. Stock drew the world’s attention in the mid 50’s with his photo essay about the emerging actor James Dean, stylishly embodied here by the competent Dane DeHaan. The title of the film alludes to the Life Magazine that published Dennis’ self-assigned work, two days before the premiere of Elia Kazan’s ‘East of Eden’, which just confirmed James Dean as a big Hollywood star. Stock and Dean first got in touch in a party hosted by Nicholas Ray, who was considering Dean for ‘Rebel Without a Cause’. Recognition was something that both actor and photographer were searching in their professions, and the trips they’ve made together, from L.A. to New York and then to Marion, Dean’s hometown in Indiana, will tight a friendship that expands to a fruitful professional collaboration. Dean possesses a quick intelligence, but also a shyness that sometimes makes him run away from everything. He normally looks doped, moving with an artistic pose and dragging his low voice, always with a cigarette between his lips. Despite the easy conversation, he’s a typical misfit who just needs a good friend to hang out. Stock, despite fond of him, often acts obsessively, eager for an opportunity to photograph the future celebrity. He’s the type of guy who almost doesn’t have a minute to spend with his 7-year-old son whom he barely sees after divorcing his wife. Both men confess their frustrations to each other, but somehow the film starts to devitalize, never delivering the humble consistency it has suggested. Unsurprisingly, I found much easier to focus in Dean than in Stock, whose personal life is not so interesting to justify a film. Even not knowing on which character I should be focused, “Life” presents articulate fractions of moods and vibes while resting in its passionless pose.

Honeytrap (2014)

Directed by: Rebecca Johnson
Country: UK

Movie Review: Rebecca Johnson’s “Honeytrap”, despite satisfying as a whole, struggles to attain a sustainable balance during its different sections, provoking mixed feelings when the script and its execution are confronted. If its story evinced great potentiality, the approach not always pulled off the most desirable results. Making a good use of the structure, in which the ends meet, the film follows Layla (Jessica Sula), a good-looking 15-year-old girl who moves to a small town located in the South London’s poor district of Brixton to live with her estranged mother. Even giving the sensation that she’s happy with the change, Layla doesn’t have the support and attention she needs at this crucial point of her life because her indifferent mother, Shiree (Naomi Ryan), shows no more availability than a few minutes of conversation when not in the nightclub where she works or in the company of some lousy boyfriend. When attending a new school, Layla is definitely not prepared to handle the brutality of a milieu where physical and psychological aggressions are a painful reality. Even though, there’s always someone friendly, which is the case of the good-natured Shaun (Ntonga Mwanza) who has true feelings for her. But the degrading scenario gets darker after she bumps into the vile Troy (Lucien Laviscount), a relatively successful rapper whose intentions are everything but pure. Domineering and authoritarian, Troy uses and abuses of the ‘blind’ Layla, whose uncontrolled passion, naivety, and submission will lead her to shame when she agrees to become his accomplice in a hideous crime. Before that, in a complete disorientation, she almost takes her life away when she finds out Troy's true nature. This is the kind of film that you can sense it’s going to end haplessly since its very beginning. The storytelling of Ms. Johnson, who was inspired by real-life events, reveals a sort of urgency in taking us to the despair of this teenager. It feels realistic most of the time, however, occasionally a few noticeable melodramatic moments, enhanced by the uninspired score, tend to push its mood to an objectionable side.

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

Directed by: Cary Fukunaga
Country: USA

Movie Review: American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and cinematographer, Cary Fukunaga, shoots beautifully and proves not only to have an eye for detail but also that he’s a director with no defined bounds or roots. He quickly got recognition with his first feature-length film, “Sin Nombre”, which addressed a particular universe pelted with ruthless gangs, set near the Mexican-US border. His sophomore feature, “Jane Eyre”, was a well-succeeded adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel of the same name. This year, he brings us the wilder “Beasts of No Nation”, a movie centered in an untold African country where a young boy, Agu (Abraham Attah), who lost his family when his village was taken by the army, falls in the hands of the rebels, becoming a brainwashed, highly-trained fighter alienated by war, misery, and his own thirst for revenge. This tale, an adaptation of Nigerian Uzodinma Iweala’s debut novel entirely shot in Ghana, starts perspicaciously funny with the kids trying to sell an ‘imagination TV’ to the soldiers or to obtain some money from the passing drivers, simulating the cutting of trees that they lay down in the middle of the streets. Shortly, there's a constant exhibition of violence (in its physical and psychological forms), and the characters exult in occasional dances that end up in harrowing killings. It also shows a significant insight when revealing in what conditions the rebel squad was operating, as well as when focuses on the leadership confrontation between soldiers and politicians. Obedience and sham rules are highlighted factors presented throughout the story. Agu looks at his prepotent Commandant (Idris Elba) as a sort of a father. On the one hand, he really wants to follow him, but on the other, he feels something’s wrong since a father shouldn’t act like a mad man, initiating him into drugs, sex, and often ordering him to kill innocent people. Despite the astonishing cinematography, Mr. Fukunaga, whose camera moves adroitly in accordance to the more or less boisterous situations, should have let the images talk more by themselves. Too many explanations are given - in the form of Agu’s thoughts - and that frequency interrupts a handful of interesting visual sequences. In truth, there’s nothing really new in this tale that we haven’t seen before - for instance, in the more absorbing “War Witch” or the chaotic “Johnny Mad Dog”. Struggling to put every little piece together in a calibrated way, “Beasts of No Nation” is a so-so war drama that happens to be fascinating for its imagery rather than for the additional ways found to express its brutal story.

Experimenter (2015)

Directed by: Michael Almereyda
Country: USA

Movie Review: Brought by the innovative - yet not always succeeded - American director Michael Almereyda, “Experimenter” tells us about the work of social psychologist, Stanley Milgram (an unsmiling Peter Sarsgaard), based on his overwhelming studies on the human obedience to authority. In this biographical drama, whose theme is sufficiently enticing to keep us watching with a responsive curiosity, Almereyda uses his creative freedom to edify a somewhat loose narrative that drinks from the thoughts and explanations given by the observant experimenter who carried out multiple experiments on obedience. The first one started in 1961 at the Yale University, where he was teaching social relations. The fundaments of the experiment were very simple, but never easy to the participants, who had to administer possibly damaging electric shocks to a human being placed on the other side of the wall whenever he chooses a wrong answer to the pre-prepared questions. Milgram proved that more than 80% of the participants, despite extremely uncomfortable with the situation, continued giving electric shocks when they were politely and yet firmly told to proceed with the experiment. Many questions arise: didn't they stop because they were being paid and consequently a sense of duty was calling them? Or because they possessed some kind of meanness or aggressiveness? Or is it because they just embraced the task with such devotion that they simply neglected that there was a man suffering and asking for the experience to come to an end? Professor Milgram, with the eyes fixed on the camera, explains that this is due to the so-called ‘agentic state’, which occurs when a person is in his obedient mode in the face of a command. Once in this state, it’s impossible to go back - he explains. Among curious conclusions, unanswered questions, and philosophical postures, “Experimenter” also addresses the complicity that existed between Milgram and his devoted and condescending wife, Sasha (a solid comeback by Winona Ryder). The film’s structure was a bit fluctuating, occasionally alienated, which is not totally surprising if we remember the previous spasmodic narrative adventures of Mr. Almereyda – “Nadja”, “Hamlet”, “Cymbeline”. Despite the quibbles, he was able to picture both the experiments and the struggles of the man behind them with a voice of his own. Even far from enchanting, “Experimenter” is Almereyda’s most accomplished film.

The Martian (2015)

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Country: USA

Movie Review: Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” is a good, often funny, sci-fi flick, but not a spectacular one. Visually and technically striking, the film left me a bit wobbly due to a strained plot, which contains a rescue beyond the bounds of imagination, an unlikely collaboration between the NASA and the China National Space Agency, and a farfetched new way of growing potatoes on Mars (imagine!). However, if we close our eyes to its, perhaps too speculative, plot’s stratagems and schemes, it's still possible to find a handful of breathtaking moments to enjoy. The screenwriter, Drew Goddard, who had already disclosed his proneness to unlimited fantasy in past movies such as “World War Z” and “Cloverfield”, based himself on the Andy Weir’s 2011 novel of the same name. The American astronaut, Mark Watney (Matt Damon), gets accidentally stranded on Mars, after an operation that ended up aborted under a severe dust storm. On Martian soil, Mark is gravely wounded, loses his senses, and gets lost from the rest of the crew. The brave commander, Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), informed by her fellow astronauts that Mark is dead, gives the order to return immediately to the spaceship and abandon the planet, not taking the risk of losing another crew-mate. When the world thought Mark was dead, he surprises everybody, not only giving signs of life (confirmed by satellite images), but also proving he’s healthy and making use of his botanical skills to prepare an artificial piece of land where he’ll try to grow potatoes. This way, he could last three more years until the next scheduled mission to the planet. The general problems in these cases start to appear, but the extremely versatile Mark never loses his good disposition and faith. On the Earth, the NASA is ruminating on the best way to bring Mark back home. Heading the operations are the optimistic director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) and his expeditious right-arm and mission director, Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Ridley Scott feels comfortable within a genre that he knows extremely well. The Polish cinematographer, Dariusz Wolski, who had worked with Mr. Scott in “Prometheus”, does much better than Harry Gregson-Williams in the music department. Slightly overlong and just pinching in terms of excitement, “The Martial”, though watchable, fails to be the masterpiece that Mr. Scott has envisioned.

Wildlike (2014)

Directed by: Frank Hall Green
Country: USA

Movie Review: Writer, director and co-producer, Frank Hall Green, presents his sophomore fictional feature, which arrives with plausibility and dramatic strength, and leaves not only with uncertainty, but also with a steady light of hope at the end of a dark tunnel. “Wildlike” is an independent drama that tells the distressing story of McKenzie (Ella Purnell), an unfortunate fatherless 14-year-old who ends up living with an estranged uncle (Brian Geraghty) in Juneau, Alaska, when his mother is hospitalized. At first, the uncle seems to be simultaneously attentive and caring but soon reveals an immoral dark side, abusing sexually of the quiet girl who runs away on the first opportunity she gets. Lost and desperate, she walks many miles through the amazing Alaskan landscapes, sleeping in an unlocked car and ultimately finding a motel where she sneaks into the room of the backpacker Rene Bartlett (Bruce Greenwood). When he finds her underneath his bed, he gets startled, but despite his efforts to reach her, she manages to escape without an explanation. Before bumping into Rene again (like a karma), McKenzie approaches a much younger backpacker by knocking at his door and asking if she can take a shower. The young man, seeing her wrapped in a towel on his bed, advances for a kiss, bringing all the recent ignominious memories. The brusque, yet good-hearted middle-aged Rene is marked as the man to follow while she tries to figure out the best way to return to Seattle and contact her mother. The new friends open up, telling more about their lives, a fact that leads the highly confused McKenzie to an embarrassing misstep. The tensest moments in the film are narrow and all together just last a few minutes. They include a fortuitous encounter with a menacing black bear and a couple situations when the fugitive tries to hide from the police officers and the insulting uncle. Evenly plotted, “Wildlike”, which oscillates between the tactful and the warmish, leaves us with the sensation that its developments could be even stronger in order to be treasured. It stands firm mostly because of Ella Purnell’s extremely sensitive performance and the unflinching surprises that the pragmatic Mr. Green takes out of his sleeve.

Black Mass (2015)

Directed by: Scott Cooper
Country: USA

Movie Review: After an extraordinary start, marked by unforgettable presences in “Dead Man”, “Ed Wood”, “Gilbert Grape” and “Donnie Brasco”, the actor Johnny Depp has fed his curriculum, not only with dignified choices based on fantasy - most of them conceived by Tim Burton - but also with a few repulsive flicks like “The Lone Ranger”, “The Tourist”, and “Transcendence”. In the fact-based “Black Mass”, a fairly watchable gangster thriller, directed by Scott Cooper in a similar line of Scorsese, he returns to a strong role, playing the violent Irish-American gangster, Jimmy ‘Whitey’ Bulger, who was a terror to his enemies, but a sweet, nice guy for his family and friends. The film starts with Johnny Martorano (W. Earl Brown), Jimmy’s trustful hitman, being questioned about the gang’s operation and the cold ways of dealing with snitches. Also, Jimmy’s right-hand, Steve Flemmi (Rory Cochrane) agrees to narrate a few past episodes involving the business. We learn that Jimmy did what he did because he had his back covered by his influential brother, senator Billy Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch), and a dishonest special agent, John Connolly, earnestly played by Noel Edgerton, who had grown up with them and recently has returned to the city. The latter undermines the police and the FBI and persuades his boss to accept an illicit alliance admitting the ruthless Jimmy as a consultant in the battle against the Mafiosi Angiulo brothers. Step by step, Jimmy, unable to hide his involvement in drugs, extortion, and murder, becomes bigger and more ambitious, imposing total respect to Connolly who becomes shaky when his wife, Marianne, confronts his morality. Unexpectedly, the most significant scenes are non-violent: one in the beginning, when he explains to his little son why he shouldn’t be in trouble for punching another kid at school; and another tense one, when a ‘family recipe’ is easily given away. On the contrary, the violent scenes are scarcely exciting and sum up into a few artful, cold-blooded gunshots. Notwithstanding, and despite the many side characters and situations, the story is no muddled. Depp isn't Brando or Pesci, yet he’s a justifiable fit for the unsentimental role.

Everest (2015)

Directed by: Baltasar Kormakur
Country: USA / UK / Iceland

Movie Review: Efficient Icelandic director, Baltasar Kormakur, returns to the cinematic recreations of dramatic real-life events after the accomplished “The Deep”, dated from two years ago. Right after the latter, he made an incursion into the fictional action-crime genre with the uninvolving “Two Guns”, starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. “Everest”, an account of the tragedy occurred in the Earth's highest mountain in the spring of 1996, also presents a strong cast, including Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Keira Knightley, Robin Wright, and Emily Watson. Screenwriters William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy try to assemble the different pieces in a mix of family drama, human competition, and survival epic, but in my eyes, and despite watchable, the film falls short of something big. A group of audacious climbers of several nationalities aims to reach the top of the Everest. The New Zealander Rob Hall (Clarke) and the American Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal) are two experienced guides who, competing each other to get the attention of the media, will drive a group that features Beck Weathers (Brolin), who doesn’t seem so confident as the others and expose himself to some calamitous situations, Doug Hansen (Hawkes), who had failed the task before but wants to prove he can do it, and Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori), who already had climbed six of the seven highest peaks. Halfway, all of them talk about their motivations to embark on the expedition, which is constantly monitored by Helen (Watson), the base camp manager, who keeps them informed about the weather conditions, via radio. With more or less difficulty, the glory is attained by most of the climbers, who had no idea of what would come next. A huge storm, bringing devastating chilly winds and blinding heavy snows, sweeps the mountain when all of them, except two, had initiated the descent. To pump up the anxiety, oxygen bottles are not available anymore and high-altitude pulmonary edema attacks mercilessly, leaving the most fragile freezingly motionless. The drama of the mountaineers’ wives is also a crucial point of Kormakur’s camera, which seeks the best vertiginous angles to provoke us a few shivers.  All the same, “Everest” is more breathtaking than emotionally responsive, failing to mightily step onto the peak of the subgenre where it belongs.

Five Star (2014)

Directed by: Keith Miller
Country: USA

Movie Review: Presented as a low-key fiction-documentary hybrid, “Five Star”, stars James ‘Primo’ Grant, a real member of the Brooklyn’s gang Bloods since the age of 12, who playing himself, might gain some sympathy from some viewers, even considering that this type of characters are usually seen as ruthless and despicable when portrayed in movies. A real life environment, in which we see the protagonist doing multiple jobs, such as security or bodyguard, in order to provide for his family, may do the trick. The film starts with a long shot of Primo talking about his family and how he missed the birth of his beloved son while he was locked in a prison. He says he promised his kids to never leave them again. Back into the vicious streets he knows as the palm of his hand, he proceeds with the illicit business, always honoring the agreements made and demanding respect (the word we hear the most) from the clients as well as from his own members. As he decides to be a better father and husband, he’s also willing to give an opportunity to John Diaz, who learns the codes and culture followed by the gang. John is a difficult teenager whose father, Primo’s mentor, was killed by a stray bullet. Even respecting his good mother very much, John doesn’t hesitate to refuse a job in a local supermarket to accept the offer of Primo who keeps insisting that in his ‘business’ there’s no room for mistakes. There’s no need to say that problems arise when John is assigned with his first package drop-off. Director Keith Miller (“Welcome to Pine Hill”) deliberately leaves ambiguity hovering in terms of what is fiction and what is real, as the film runs at an unhurried pace. He avoids violent scenes, but builds an acceptable tension throughout the episodes that are captured by an often-unsteady camera. The performances, if not great, could have been worse, taking into account the actors’ inexperience. “Five Star” was never vibrant, but it was still able to make us think about the lives of these men, trapped into the mean streets since the day they were born.

The Mend (2014)

Directed by: John Magary
Country: USA

Movie Review: Although “The Mend” weaves a few laughable predicaments, I wouldn’t properly call it a comedy. John Magary’s independent debut feature is a vicious, punishing, and scathing study of characters, starring Josh Lucas and Stephen Plunkett as two dysfunctional brothers who simultaneously live in a devouring emotional crisis that leads to self-degradation and existential chaos. Mat (Lucas) and Alan (Plunkett) are suffering from the same ailment - emotional instability - but react in very different ways. The former is lax, unpredictable, and totally carefree (almost self-destructive), spending most of his time wandering the streets of New York, whereas the latter seems unaffected at a first glance, keeping his anger and frustration in an invisible inner level, but despite acting adequately and having a steady job as a legal aid lawyer, he’s prone to easily degenerate in the face of a problem. Instability is not the only point they have in common: both have girlfriends who love them, and they both hold a grudge against their absent father who was diagnosed with Parkinson. On the day before their vacation trip to Quebec, Alan and his girlfriend, Farrah (Mickey Sumner), are giving a small party in their cozy apartment in Harlem when they spot the intruder Mat among the guests. Mat, who apparently broke up with his girlfriend, Andrea (Lucy Owen) and her son after an argument, plans to stay in the apartment while his brother is away, and soon the place is turned into a complete mess. When bedbugs invade Mat’s girlfriend’s apartment, he invites her to the house exactly when Alan unexpectedly arrives from his vacations alone. Devastated and numbed, the latter will admit later that Farrah left him, and now he feels completely adrift. The filmmaking style of Mr. Magary resembles the enthralling realism of the Safdie brothers, boosted by Judd Greenstein and Michi Wiancko’s intriguingly suggestive score, strong dialogues, and the compelling performances from the four main characters. Nevertheless, the film isn’t flawless, occasionally abandoning the required straightforwardness to become diffuse, uneven, and overextended. I had the sensation that the insanity and disorder grow a bit out of proportion in a few crucial scenes.

Coming Home (2014)

Directed by: Zhang Yimou
Country: China

Movie Review: 28 years have passed since the first collaboration between the awarded Chinese filmmaker, Zhang Yimou, and the renowned actress, Gong Li. That first movie was “Red Sorghum” - not really one of my favorites - and their successful association would become stronger in subsequent essential dramas, all of them from the 90’s, cases of “Ju Dou”, “Raise the Red Lantern”, “The Story of Qiu Ju”, “To Live”, and “Shanghai Triad”. Now, they reunite one more time in “Coming Home”, eight years after “The Curse of the Golden Flower”, an adventurous action epic from 2007. Gong Li plays Yu Feng, a wife and former teacher whose husband, Lu Yanshi (Daoming Chen), also a professor, was arrested for political reasons and sent to a labor camp during the Cultural Revolution. Their teenage daughter, Dandan (Huiwen Zhang), an extremely skillful ballerina, was refused the leading role in the famous ballet ‘Red Detachment of Women’ because her father was considered an outlaw. She grew up resentful with this setback, choosing to denounce her father when he attempts to approach Yu after managing to escape the camp where he was confined. A few years later, the Cultural Revolution is over and Lu is finally released. However, he realizes that everything has changed during all those years. Dandan currently lives in the dormitory of the old textile factory where she’s working and is now regretful about her actions. In turn, Yu reacts in a distant way and doesn't seem to care anymore, not because she has stopped loving him, but because she’s unable to recognize him due to suffering from a traumatic amnesia. Not so striking as other dramatic voyages of Mr. Yimou, the relentlessly grievous “Coming Home” still is a copious improvement when compared with the contrived “The Flowers of War”, a reenactment of a Japan’s Nanking incident, in which starred Christian Bale and Ni Ni. Despite the tenacious melodramatic tones, a beneficial aspect is that the script, adapted by Jingzhi Zou from the novel ‘The Criminal Lu Yanshi’ by Geling Yan, doesn’t take us to the most obvious places. A magnetic photography, painted with rich colors, together with the solid production values, do the rest.

Time Out of Mind (2014)

Directed by: Oren Moverman
Country: USA

Movie Review: The timid, but ultimately affecting drama, “Time Out of Mind”, observes the daily routines of a New York City homeless, played expressively by the revived Richard Gere. The film opens with George (Gere), struggling with a hangover, being kicked out by the landlord of the house he occupies. His bed had been the bathtub of the house for a while, and now he’s forced to find a shelter to survive the cold winter nights. The difficulty of being accepted in these shelters, which demand curfews and upset the homeless with a bunch of undesirable questions, in addition to the bureaucracy involved in filing a supposedly simple application for emergency food stamps and cash benefits, almost drive him crazy. Yet, all these annoying issues are considered of minor importance when compared to the fact that his inflexible, estranged daughter, Maggie (Jena Malone), repudiates him in every attempt to establish contact. This is the most painful gap in his miserable existence. The messed up George, alternating between moments of consciousness (he finally accepts he’s homeless) and quasi-delusional states provoked by the alcohol, knows he’s got to try harder, even if he needs to humiliate himself in front of her. Apart from this emotional central idea, the film depicts a few idiosyncratic encounters with some of the quirky homeless characters who inhabit the shelter, cases of the inopportune Jack (Jeremy Strong), who even has a job, and the conflicting and mouthy Dixon (Ben Vereen), who claims he was a jazz musician and sticks to George as a bloodthirsty tick when attached to a source of nourishment. The quarrels between them are stupidly trivial, functioning as a natural constituent of their unassuming friendship. Richard Gere talks more through sad eyes and fatigued expressions than really through words, while writer-director Oren Moverman (“The Messenger”, “Rampart”), equilibrating pretentiousness and honesty, adopts a voyeuristic style, shooting obsessively behind glass windows to create image reflexes, layers, and overlaps.

Grandma (2015)

Directed by: Paul Weitz
Country: USA

Movie Review: If you’re looking for a comedy with attitude, “Grandma” is an option you should consider. Written, directed, and co-produced by Paul Weitz (“American Pie”, “About a Boy”), the film has the merit of putting a lot of soul, energy and charisma in every single scene, no matter if clichéd or not. All those attributes come from the brilliant performance of Lily Tomlin, who generously plays Elle Reid, a conflicting, full-mouthed, feminist and lesbian poet whose angelical 18-year-old granddaughter, Sage (Julia Garner), asks for a little financial help when she finds out she’s pregnant. $600 would solve Sage's worries since she was already booked into a cheap but decent abortion clinic. This way, she wouldn’t have to tell the news to her scarily judgmental mother, Judy (Marcia Gay Harden), a strenuous successful businesswoman. Elle, who is still coping with the death of her longtime life partner and digesting the recent separation from a younger girlfriend, Olivia, cannot help with money since she’s broke, but that doesn’t mean she will abandon Sage to her fate. Driving a beautiful, but debilitated old Dodge, Elle and her granddaughter set off on a road trip, paying a few visits in order to borrow the required amount. The first attempt is Sage’s boyfriend, an indifferent and uneducated brat who learns a lesson from the fearless grandma. Then they meet with a tattoo artist who, unable to pay what she owes to Elle, makes her a nice tattoo on the arm instead. After a bad experience in a café that once was a costless abortion clinic, they rush into another café, where Olivia works, to try selling feminist books to the owner. The last option, and before resorting to Sage’s mother, is Elle’s former husband who’s still resentful about their turbulent past. “Grandma” would be a more serious case if the most evident clichés had been removed from its unbiased script. Still, it manages to keep one steady foot on dramatic and another on funniness, a feat achieved effortlessly due to the excellent Ms. Tomlin, who loudly screams for an Oscar in her first leading role in 27 years.

I'll See You in My Dreams (2015)

Directed by: Brett Haley
Country: USA

Movie Review: “I’ll See You in My Dreams”, the attentive sophomore feature by Brett Haley, is a heartfelt comedy-drama that meditates on loneliness, aging, and loss. The script, co-written by Haley and Marc Basch, focuses on Carol (Blythe Danner), a former songstress who has been a widow for 20 years and lives unworriedly in a serene high-class neighborhood of LA in the company of her faithful dog. In the first scenes of the film, we follow Carol’s sorrowfulness when the dog gets sick and has to be put to sleep. In addition to this mishap, a dauntless big black rat is seen strolling inside the house. In panic, she flees outside and ends up sleeping by the pool where she’s awakened the next morning by the new pool cleaner, Lloyd (Martin Starr). After an unlovely first contact, the latter not only becomes an agreeable interlocutor but a drinking buddy. However, and despite fond of music, this former poetry student shows to be a mediocre songwriter and an even worse singer. Apart from Lloyd, the distinctive Carol is far from idleness, hanging out with her three best girlfriends with whom she routinely plays cards and golf. The funniest moment of the film is when these ladies go shopping after vaporize marijuana. They often speculate about getting someone to date Carol, who reluctantly agrees to speed dating. Regardless the flop associated with the experience, she bumps into the spontaneous Bill (Sam Elliott) on her way out, and they exchange some flirtatious words. Bill is a wealthy man, with a strong monotone voice, whose wife left him a few years before and died afterward. Even testing the waters, the couple seems very comfortable and happy when together, which facilitates communication and tangible romance. Sadly, bad news knocks on Carol’s door once again, coinciding with the visit of her daughter. Presented through a delicate, thoughtful, and feminine angle, the film never gives up on hope, flowing agreeably but nonetheless unsurprisingly. Even if not majorly impactful, the narrative fluidity and Ms. Danner’s deeply felt performance provide us with the necessary for the film to be considered favorably.