The Report

First Hit: A strong film shining a light on the United States of America’s illegal torture campaign.

Daniel J. Jones (Adam Driver) wants to be a part of our government, so he meets with Denis McDonough (John Hamm), who is Chief of Staff in the White House. McDonough’s advice is to get involved with a project of importance and make a name for yourself.

Working as a Senate staffer for Senator Diane Feinstein (Annette Bening), he is selected and enthusiastically agrees to investigate the 2005 destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes for her. His life is his work, and he’s dedicated to finding out the truth.

Reviewing online documents, Jones discovers damning evidence that the CIA used “enhanced interrogation techniques” (torture) as promoted by Bruce Jessen (T. Ryder Smith) and James Elmer Mitchell (Douglas Hodge) at secret, “black” (hidden offshore), locations. It appears that the videotapes were destroyed to conceal evidence that the US violated the Geneva Convention rules against torture.

The reason the CIA contracted with Jessen and Mitchell is that they believed they could get information out of captured personnel that would stop future terrorist bombings like 9/11 and maybe apprehend the individuals that instigated 9/11.

In a windowless high-security office in an offsite facility, Jones and 5 others reviewed 6 million pages of CIA materials only to discover that these contractors imprisoned and tortured some 119 detainees and got no valuable information. Their techniques were a total failure.

The move to legalize this program was shown in scenes with White House staff working with John Yoo (Pun Bandhu), who made legal arguments that later were discovered to be unfounded and unsupported.

There are graphic scenes of the torture which aren’t easy to watch, but what really stood out to me was the lack of guts on the part of Senators (including Feinstein) and Congressmen to expose and publicly bring to light our failings and illegal actions. The politicians, who represent us, were mainly worried about being re-elected. Finally, because of political pressure and worries that the information would be leaked to the press, the information is shared with the public.

The film does a great job of intermixing real footage, like John McCain talking about how torture is an anti-American value on the Senate floor, with the story.

Driver is sublime as Jones. His focus and willingness to push all bounds to get the information and get it correct was phenomenal. The film did state that Jones’ full report was some seven-thousand pages long. Bening was excellent as Feinstein as she got her voice and mannerisms down perfectly. However, what disappointed me was how Feinstein seems to play politics for sake of her job instead of getting the truth out. Scott Z. Burns wrote and directed this film with a clear focus of showing how the CIA was exposed and how politics almost keep the facts from US Citizens.

Overall: Although I wasn’t surprised by the actions of the CIA, Senators, and The White House, it’s disappointing to see how we try to hide our horrible and illegal behavior.

The Seagull

First Hit: An OK version of an Anton Chekhov play.

Unrequited love, that is what this film and story is about. There are amusing ways it is shown. The matriarch of this story, Irina (Annette Bening) is a publicity hound and loves the adoration she receives from the audiences she performs in front of. She has a younger lover, a playwright, named Boris Trigorin (Corey Stoll) who is weak of spirit and Irina’s commanding strength controls him.

While visiting Irina’s summer home and home of her brother Sorin (Brian Dennehy), Boris falls for Nina (Saoirse Ronan), which makes Irina’s son Konstantin (Billy Howle) jealous because he loves Nina. Konstantin spends most of his time trying to get approval as a writer and attention from his mother Irina.

Masha (Elisabeth Moss) the daughter of property caretakers Polina and Shamrayev (Mare Winningham and Glenn Fleshler respectively), longs for Konstantin but he cannot stand her. Masha is being pursued by a poor teacher and she cannot stand him.

Another unrequited relationship is Polina longing for Doctor Dorn (Jon Tenney) but he wants no part of her.

This is the entire basis of this story and film. It’s appeal is that almost everyone has had this sort of unrequited love in their life.

However, so much at the same time is also the weakness of this film. It is almost not real.

Benning is strong as the ego-based actress that needs to believe she’s the best looking person in the room and is lauded by everyone in Russia. Ronan is divine as Nina. She is one of the best parts of this film and her confusion about her love for Boris is wonderful. Dennehy is good as the brother that is ill. Howle is good as the son who is filled with sadness and pain of rejections from both his mother and Nina. Moss is particularly funny and dramatic. Especially when she’s drinking at the table with Boris and says, all women drink, I just do it openly. Stoll is very good as the subservient man to Irina and his short-lived lust for Nina. Winningham is strong as the caretaker’s wife who also lusts after someone other than her husband. Flesher is especially good as a man that doesn’t want to be ordered around by Irina. Tenney is strong as the doctor who wants someone and rejects someone else. Stephen Karam wrote a strong version of this Chekhov play. Michael Mayer directed this drama with a sure hand.

Overall: I think this story is relatable in this format and overall it worked.

20th Century Women

First Hit:  I liked it overall and some scenes are wonderfully funny, but it didn’t impress or stay with me afterwards.

There was something missing in this film and I’m not sure what it was. As I previously said, I liked many of the scenes individually but together as a story it just missed the target.

The basic story is that a single mother Dorothea (Annette Bening), in her late 40’s early 50’s, is raising her fifteen-year-old son, Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), in Santa Barbara in the late 1970’s. She lives in a large home with people who rent rooms; Abbie (Greta Gerwig) and William (Billy Crudup). Abbie, who’s in her early 20s, has come to Santa Barbara from New York after learning she had cervical cancer to be an artist. William is slightly younger than Dorothea is a handy man with cars and is fixing up Dorothea’s huge rundown house. Dorothea is stressing about her son and wants him to be a smart caring whole man who navigates the restlessness of the ever-changing world. There are peace protests, punk music is flourishing, and there is also the feminist movement.

Julie (Elle Fanning), is a neighbor girl whose mother is a child psychologist and requires Julie to sit in her youth therapy groups. She often spends the night with Jamie but only to talk and rest. She sneaks in by climbing the scaffolding surrounding the house. She comes back into the house, through the front door, in the morning and has breakfast with the rest of the household.

Always worrying, somewhat defensiveness, and not being forthcoming about her past is the byword of Dorothea’s character. Abbie is about finding peace with her life. She wants to express and settle down. William lives easily and as the dialogue stated, women come to him and he gets bored with them easily. Julie is exploring her freedom from her mother through sexual behavior and depressive based rebellion. Jamie is simply growing up and although he’s going out and experiencing new things, his mother seems to think that he needs more help.

Bening is very good, however I didn’t necessarily like her character much. There was a distant neediness to her that didn’t really work for me. Fanning was fantastic. She does the part woman/part girl nervousness with amazement. Watch her hands and feet move as when she’s nervous – wonderful subtle acting. Zumann was very good as the boy learning to become a man. Scenes where he becomes sullen and frustrated are excellent. Gerwig is wonderful. Her energy and engagement with the role and the other characters was perfect. Crudup was strong as handyman William. His soft kindness towards the women in the house and others was delightful. Mike Mills wrote an excellent script, however overall the film felt too scene based which may have been through his direction.

Overall:  Although I enjoyed many of the scenes, the overall film felt a little disjointed and scene based.

Rules Don't Apply

First Hit:  I was left wanting because I wanted this film to be insightful about the secret world of Howard Hughes, a powerful, interesting, and enigmatic figure of my youth.

The name “Howard Hughes” billionaire, held its own fascination to me during the late 1950’s – 1960’s. In Southern California, where I grew up, the name Hughes Aircraft labeled a number of buildings in and around the Glendale and El Segundo areas. The Hughes Aircraft Company was a subsidiary of Hughes Tool Company, which his father started, was headquartered in Texas and because of his father’s early death, he inherited the business when he was just eighteen years old.

With drive and vision, this wealth allowed him to create the airline company TWA (Trans World Airlines) out of Transcontinental and Western Air. He also bought hotels in Las Vegas (The Sands, Castaways, Landmark, Frontier, Silver Slipper and Desert Inn). He also got involved in Media and specifically for this film RKO Pictures.

The film opens with Levar Mathis (Matthew Broderick) and Nadine Henley (Candice Bergen) anxiously trying to get Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty) to, via telephone, address a group of reporters. The reason is that in this public press conference, Hughes is expected to answer reporter’s questions to disprove and debunk a book stating that Hughes is now insane and needs to be institutionalized.

The movie rolls back in time 5 years and we meet Marla Mabry (Lily Collins) and her mother Lucy (Annette Bening) who are coming to LA from Virginia for Marla to meet Howard and have a screen test for a film Hughes was going to make with her as the star. They are met by Hughes’ driver Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) and there is an immediate spark between Marla and Frank. However, Frank is forbidden by Howard’s rules as explained to him feverishly by Levar, that he will be fired if he fraternizes, in any way, with any of Hughes actresses.

As the film makes its way to the press conference, we learn about Howard's quirks with people and things. He likes Banana Nut ice cream one moment, and Vanilla the next. We see bankers waiting for hours in a bungalow at the Beverly Hilton just to meet and see Howard before giving him $400+ million dollars. Hughes of course is in nearby bungalow but prefers to speak with them via phone.

We watch him and Frank gaze at the Spruce Goose which the Army commissioned to build but thinks it won’t fly. But Hughes flies the plane one time to prove its feasibility, then decommissions the plane. Watching a film of the flight, you hear Howard complain there was no close-up of him flying the plane.

He lives in the shadows of rooms and in the dark. He does most of his business by phone, meanwhile Marla and Frank both try to find personal one-on-one time with Howard so that she can pitch her talents and he can pitch his real estate deal. Along with way, they signal their mutual interest in each other.

I was fascinated with what Howard would say or come up with next. But what didn’t work for me was not getting more about the very odd story of Hughes. I thought the love story of Marla and Frank was rather tepid. However, the redemption of the latter arrives at the end of the film, but it wasn’t what I was interested in. I wanted more about Howard Hughes a childhood fascination of mine.

I did like the film’s time-period and the views of Hollywood, LA and Las Vegas were engagingly wonderful. The attention to details in the rooms and bungalows were great.

Beatty was oddly quirky and strong as a man on the edge of greatness and sanity. He was perfect for this role and did an excellent job of directing himself. Collins was very engaging and good as Maples. Her ability to be sober and drunk and keep the character congruent was virtuous and perfect. Bening, as Marla’s mother was wonderful. Her religious and personal beliefs were perfectly represented. Ehrenreich was wonderful. His intensity and respect for Hughes in their conversations was excellently presented. Martin Sheen as Hughes’ CEO was great. He expressed just the right amount of irritation at the bosses’ behavior and respect for Howard’s accomplishments. Broderick was fun as the sort of chief of staff role he had for Hughes. Bergen was fun and good as Hughes’ secretary and assistant. Beatty wrote a wonderful screenplay but as I said earlier I would have rather had more Hughes and less Maples and Frank, but that is just me. Hughes is what I was interested in. Beatty also did a good job of directing this bigger than life story.

Overall:  I wanted a bigger story about Hughes.

Danny Collins

First Hit:  I really enjoyed the film mostly because of the music followed closely the characters.

Danny (Al Pacino) is an aging rock and roll star that sings his and other’s old songs to an aging audience that love his old songs. It is just for the money.

He’s still into drugs and drinking while seeing the irony of having a young fiancé. She’s with him for the money and drugs. On his birthday his manager Frank Grubman (Christopher Plummer) gives him a letter written to him by his all-time hero, John Lennon.

Frank bought this 40 year old letter for Danny after tracking it down to a collector. Danny is overwhelmed by the gift, and decides he needs to change his life. So he moves into a hotel in New Jersey being managed by Mary Sinclair (Annette Bening). They have great banter and the chemistry is palpable. Besides getting rid of his drugs and trying to write new songs, he wants to visit his son Tom Donnelly (Bobby Cannavale) whom he’s never met.

His son doesn’t care one iota about him and wants him out of his life. His daughter Hope (Giselle Eisenberg) is ADHD and through her Danny tries to find a way back into his son’s heart. This film is about the difficulties of redemption, forgiveness, growing, and letting go.

Pacino is pretty good, and although there are times I felt he was over milking the part, other times he appeared clued into the role and was creating a wonderful character. Bening was wonderful. She was a great foil for Pacino’s role. Plummer was fantastic. Cannavale was superior as the son who was both angry and happy to meet his father. The star of this film was Eisenberg. She was amazing. Dan Fogelman wrote and directed this film. His use of the John Lennon music was absolutely perfect. The other stories that make up this film were strong.

Overall:  I thoroughly enjoyed the film and it was the music that got me fully engaged.