The Invisible Man

First Hit: Despite Elizabeth Moss’s excellent performance, the film dragged on.

Moss, as Cecilia Kass, plays a wife who is being controlled by her husband, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), and is looking to escape his clutches.

The story begins with Cecilia sneaking out of bed, packing some clothes, and sneaking out of the house. As she moves through the home and the surrounding property, we figure out that Adrian must be wealthy because the home is amazingly new, large and modern, and the walled-in yard is extravagant. There is also a quick clip with someone saying he’s done very well in the world of optical science.

Cecilia’s sister, Emily (Harriet Dyer), picks her up on an empty two-lane road near the home, and just as Emily attempts to ask why Cecilia is doing this, Adrian’s fist comes through the window and tries to pull Cecilia out of the car. The two just escape his clutches and speed down the road.

Cecilia gets dropped off at James Lanier’s (Aldis Hodge) home. James is a police officer and lives with his daughter Sydney (Storm Reid). Cecilia feels safe there as we learn that her husband doesn’t know about James or where he lives.

Cecilia learns that Adrian has committed suicide, which, to Cecilia, seems out of character. Adrian’s brother Tom (Michael Dorman) is the executor of Adrian's estate and tells Cecilia that she is to receive $5M in payments.

However, strange things begin to happen to Cecilia, and she suspects that Adrian is still alive and invisible. This is when we begin to see some great acting by Moss. Her terror from being stalked by an invisible person is so true-to-life that her audience is drawn in to her efforts to convince others of the reality of her experiences. Yet, this is also where the film begins to wane because we just spend too much time, in different circumstances, watching Cecilia evading an invisible Adrian.

We all know how it is going to end, so there is no surprise. However, the way it is handled by Cecilia is good and does add to the enjoyment of the overall film.

I didn’t think any of the relationships were well developed, which was disappointing. Don’t know why Cecilia would even be with Adrian in the first place. Where did Cecilia and James know each other from? What was Tom and Adrian’s relationship based upon? The film attempts to have the audience believe the dialogue, but the over subservient way people acted with Adrian was incongruent.

Moss was excellent at portraying fear of an invisible person, and she showed this through her very expressive face. Hodge was wonderful as Cecilia’s friend and protector. Dyer was perfect as Cecilia’s sister in the way she protected, listened to, and cared about her sister. Reid was terrific as James’s daughter. Dorman was good as Adrian’s subservient brother. Leigh Whannell wrote and directed this movie. The writing was good, but the story got old waiting for Cecilia (and the audience) to see Adrian and to get to the end. Part of the problem for me was the lack of character and relationship development.

Overall: This film had possibilities but failed to engage me fully.

Clemency

First Hit: The slow eruption of sorrow by Alfre Woodard as Warden Bernadine Williams is formidable.

Make no mistake, this is Woodard’s film from beginning to end. As the warden of a prison that executes the individuals on death row, she faces up to her harrowing job with a commitment, strength, and affected vulnerability.

The film begins with Warden Williams presiding over an execution. The medical orderly botches needle insertion attempts. The camera focuses on Williams’ face almost the whole time, and by reading the barely visible changes in expression, we know she’s a percolating pot of unexpressed feelings.

Williams is married to Jonathan (Wendell Pierce), who is a high school teacher. We only find out about his work late in the film, but the scene where he’s reading to his students provides a good indication of the depth and quality of the man he is.

There are moments during the fill that explore their relationship at home, and what we see is a man doing his best to reach out to his wife, and she is barely able to respond.

Bernadine is loyal to her job. She knows it is essential, but her own awareness that the job is eating her alive is minimal. When she’s engaging prisoners, especially Anthony Woods (Aldis Hodge), she is both competent and caring.

The focus of this story is between the time of the early botched execution and the execution of Woods. The story uses Major Logan Cartwright’s (LaMonica Garrett) difficulty after the botched execution to portray the struggle of doing one’s job when that job is to push the buttons of death. There is a side story of  Chaplain Kendricks (Michael O’Neill), who is the assigned Chaplain there to assist the doomed prisoners. There is the anti-execution attorney Marty Lumetta (Richard Schiff) pleading to stay Woods's execution because evidence shows he probably wasn’t the killer and because of the previously botched execution. Then there is Woods's own story and the effect of discovering he has a son just before his day of execution.

All of these stories are etched in Williams’ face as she painfully goes through her duties of Warden.

The scene with Woods in his cell, trying to hurt himself, is painful to watch. I had to turn away for part of it.  When Woods meets up with the mother of his son, her story of why she did what she did was compelling. Deputy Warden Thomas Morgan’s (Richard Gunn) support of Williams is shown in several scenes. The bar parking lot scene in which he asks for keys is reflective of his caring, help, and support.

The film, because the subject is dark, is mostly shot in darker tones. The Williams’ home is not infused with light, the prison and prison walls are realistically portrayed in generic faded government colors. The yellow lines bordering each hallway in prison, guiding prisoners where they can walk, is poignantly shown.

However, the film is very slow-paced, and at times, I did want it to jump forward, but I also understand why it was done this way.

Woodard gives a career-defining performance. The subtle movements in her expressions, eyes, and body movement tell a compelling story, and it surely deserved an award nomination. Garrett was terrific as this hulking strong guard that had to succumb to his inner voice about participating in another execution. Pierce was extraordinary in his role as Bernadine’s husband. Schiff was terrific as the prisoner rights attorney. O’Neill was perfect as the Chaplain. Hodge was remarkable and fantastic as the prisoner wrongly accused of murder facing death by execution. Gunn was excellent as a caring Deputy Warden. Chinonye Chukwu wrote and directed this film with both heart and intention. When the state takes a life, it affects everyone involved, including our society.

Overall: This was a study in outstanding acting by Woodard.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

First Hit:  Better than the first but still not quite as strong as other loner films, such as the Bourne series.

The first film was entertaining mostly because Tom Cruise (as Jack Reacher) is good at what he does, be intense, entertaining, and be Tom Cruise. One never loses the thought that it is Tom Cruise on the screen. In other words, it is Cruise with a character's name, in this case Jack Reacher. Not that this is bad, however there is never any doubt about who is starring in the film.

In Cruise films there always seems to be a scene where he's in a shower and the shot is a profile of the water hitting his head and then flowing down his face. It is generally to show is anguish and his human side before he gets revitalized to go out and do become the intense focused character he’s playing. This film is no different.

In this version of Reacher, the opening scene has Cruise assisting the government in rounding up a sheriff who is trafficking illegal aliens. This sets up Reacher as someone who gets the job done, even if it sets him up for additional issues. This opening also tells us that Reacher is smart, knows what is going to happen, and has a singular focus. The writer and director tell us all we need to know by telling the Sheriff what is going to happen in the next 90 seconds. The sheriff laughs, then realizes that Reacher has the last laugh.

The biggest flaw I saw at the beginning of the film was how did he have such a close working relationship with Major Turner (Cobie Smulders), the person who took his job in the Army? This was never well established and this little loose end bothered me throughout the film. The film made a big deal about them meeting for the first time, and that they had a phone relationship, but somehow it didn’t work for me. However, their on-screen chemistry worked and they were well match with intensity.

The plot is about Reacher and Smulders finding out who is using the US Government Military complex to perpetrate fraud why. It has to do with arms dealers, government contractors, and drugs. To move the plot, in an interesting and heartfelt way, Reacher is accused of not providing child support to Samantha (Danika Yarosh) who happens to attach herself to him and Smulders as they find themselves in the thick of a battle between the government’s MPs and the contractors.

Cruise is Cruise. He gives you all he has, he does it well but in the end it is never about the character but it is Tom Cruise. Smulders is very strong in her character and in her physicality. Yarosh is very good and I like what she brought to the film. Aldis Hodge was OK as a MP captain charged with bringing Reacher to justice. My favorite character in this film was Madalyn Horcher as Sargent Leach who helps Reacher with information as the story unfolds. Lee Child and Richard Wenk wrote the screenplay and it is works better than the first Reacher film, but all told it isn’t very strong. Edward Zwick did well to present this story and the characters in an interesting way, but it wasn’t an overall strong film.

Overall:  When you compare a film like this with a Jason Bourne film, the storyline, why it is shot, and the acting are far superior.