Hotel Mumbai

First Hit: It was interesting enough from a historical perspective but didn’t engage because it was a predictable and a known story.

When this attack happened, India was caught off guard. The real-life consequences of not having the type of policing or counterterrorism task force required to deal with the this coordinated assault was that it caused at least 174 deaths.

In November of 2008, ten members of Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group executed a coordinated attack on Hindus in twelve locations throughout Mumbai, the financial center of India. The attack lasted four days. This film shows brief scenes of the shootings from some of the other locations, however the main target was The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. This is a five-star hotel where the guest is king, and this is where most of scenes are filmed.

The terrorists are coaxed on, and being guided by, a voice on the phone through the headsets worn by the men. He encourages them to kill anyone they see without mercy. However, he’s also looking for these men to take western prisoners for “negotiating purposes.” The audience knows there won’t be real negotiations and the captured will die.

Among the captured are David (Armie Hammer) who is married to Zahra (Nazanin Boniadi). The are traveling with their young baby who’s being taken care of by their nanny, Sally (Tilda Cobham-Hervey).

The film makes an emphatic point of the ruthlessness of the machine gun armed terrorists by having them coldly shoot anyone they see. They attempt kill anyone who moves, except for the few they want to capture and hold to gain additional publicity because they are prominent or wealthy figures.

One of the captured is Vasili (Jason Isaacs) who is a former Russian special forces specialist. His redeeming scene is when he ferociously bites the achilleas of one of the terrorists.

However, the main star of this film is Arjun (Dev Patel) who works in the hotel as a waiter. He’s a Sikh which comes into play later in the story. He and the head chef Oberol (Anupam Kher) attempt to save some of the hotel’s guest from being killed by hiding them in a exclusive room with only one public way in. The story is about how these people were saved.

Overall, Patel was good in this role. One outstanding scene was the way he explained his Sikh hair covering to one of the concerned and ill-informed guests. Kher was excellent as the Head Chef in holding to his belief that the hotel’s “guests are god.” Hammer was good as the American who was married to a Muslim woman. His desire to protect his family was spot on. Boniadi was wonderful as Hammer’s wife. When she starts saying prayers in front of the terrorists, it becomes very tense — one of the best scenes in the film. Cobham-Hervey was outstanding as the nanny. She felt very genuine in her desire to protect the child from harm. Isaacs was very good as the overindulgent selfish Russian operative who finally does something for someone else. The entire cadre of actors playing the terrorists did a sublime job of making sure they were cold hearted and unrelenting in their role of killing people for a golden ticket to heaven. John Collee and Anthony Maras wrote a interesting script. Maras directed this film which included actual scenes from the actual attack.

Overall: I wasn’t as captured or engaged as I thought I might be.

On the Basis of Sex

First Hit: Outstanding and moving film about one of the most inspirational women in United States history – ever.

In May of 2018, I saw and reviewed the documentary “RBG.” It was an amazing factual film about a woman who changed the course of gender equality in the United States.

In this dramatic version, we have Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg providing some of the drama behind the story of one of the most inspirational women to ever practice law in the United States. Today at 85 years old, and a Supreme Court Justice, she is still trailblazing how we look at the law and its impact on gender equality.

When the dean of Harvard Law School Erwin Griswold (Sam Waterston) invites the women who made it into his school, over for dinner at his home, he asks each of them to share why they deserve to take a man’s place at Harvard’s prestigious law school. It is a defining moment in the film to share with the audience how horribly sexist these institutions were towards women. Ginsburg’s answer is divinely dripping of sarcasm that went over Griswold’s head.

Ruth’s husband Martin (Armie Hammer) is also a law student at Harvard focusing on Tax Law. His support of his wife’s journey in law school is wonderful. Unfortunately, he contracts testicle cancer which he has only a 5% chance of beating, and Ruth, showing support, takes his classes and hers so that her husband doesn’t have to drop out of school while he recovers. Using the notes she took from his classes, she teaches Martin what he needs to know to pass his classes. She’s doing the work of two students as well as caretaker and mother.

Being a couple years behind her husband, he graduates and gets a job in a prestigious New York Cit law firm. This leaves Ruth with having to make a choice, raise their daughter alone and continue with law school at Harvard or moved with her husband and finish her schooling at Columbia. She chooses the later.

The film explores the unfairness of being a woman becoming a lawyer in this mostly man’s world. Additionally, it explores how her daughter Jane (Cailee Spaeny) is being affected by the changing culture of the 1960’s. We see how the dynamics of this culture change helped Ruth see the laws that needed changing and she found ways, with the help of Martin, to make her case to a State Supreme Court and to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Some of the scenes were amazingly poetic. Like when Martin hands a tax issue case to Ruth with the proviso, read this and you’ll see where you can make a difference. She did. I loved when Ruth takes Jane to see famed civil rights attorney Dorothy Kenyon (Kathy Bates) and upon walking back out into the streets, how Jane handles the harassing men and gets Ruth and her a cab. There were also a couple great scenes with Ruth and ACLU lead lawyer Mel Wolf (Justin Theroux). Lastly the scene in which she argues in the State Supreme Court for equal rights of a man was very well done.

For me the downsides of the film were, I would have liked Ruth’s first case in the U.S. Supreme court to be part of this film. Also, I found that Felicity’s accent fluctuations to be slightly problematic. Her voice lacked consistency.

On the upside when Jones gets ready to argue the main case at the State’s Supreme Court, she has Ruth’s look and feel down pat. Lastly, I loved the part where we see Ruth (Jones) climbing the steps to the U.S. Supreme Court and then see the real Ruth.

Felicity was very good as Ruth. Despite the accent variations, she brought a strength and character to Ruth and seemed to match the Ruth in the earlier documentary. Hammer was excellent. I loved his kind, thoughtful, and supportive lightheartedness he brought to this role. Spaeny was outstanding. I thought her portrayal of a young woman caught up in the movements of the 1960’s and also wanting to be respectful of her dynamic parents was sublime. I hope to see her in more films. Theroux was far better than I thought he’d be. My surprise is that he often takes sinister roles her here he shows a funny, smart, supportive side. Bates was sublime as with wizened civil rights lawyer who brings respect and a true grass roots feeling to the film. Waterston was excellent as the self-righteous sexist head of Harvard’s Law school. Daniel Stiepleman wrote a wonderful screenplay. Mimi Leder put the right touch on this film.

Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed this film as the first film of the year to see and review.

Sorry to Bother You

First Hit: What I liked about this film is that it is funny, unique, and unlike any other film I’ve seen.

This film is an alternate universe to present day Oakland, CA. Here we have Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) looking for work, living in a garage, and dating artist Detroit (Tessa Thompson). One of the early funny scenes is when he and Detroit start messing around in bed and a garage door opens which exposes his room as a garage and his neighbors say "get a room". Very funny scene and sets a tone for the film.

Enjoyed Cassius’s interview for a telemarketing job because of what we discover about his creativeness to make himself look like he has a great past working record.

Getting the job, he’s coached by Langston (Danny Glover) to use his “white voice.” This was hilarious, and the voice Danny uses, and the voice Cassius uses are perfectly nerdy white. I loved it. His managers tell him if he does well he’ll be elevated to the position of Power Caller. As a Power Caller he’ll make a lot of money and get to ride in the private elevator. Watch for the entering of the elevator code - hilarious.

The film uses funny ways to see how he doesn’t connect, and then connects with people he tele-markets. All of a sudden, he drops from his desk into the home of the person he’s calling and directly discusses his pitch and deal.

The movie also has a story about workers rights. Leading this effort is Squeeze (Steven Yuen)  and working with Cassius’s close friend Salvador (Jermaine Fowler) start a protest with all of the other telemarketers. Cassius and Detroit are for the cause however, Cassius has now moved up to the Power Caller floor, he holds back from wholeheartedly supporting the protest movement.

As a Power Caller he starts selling for a company called WorryFree run by Steve Lift (Armie Hammer) that offers people the option of working for no money, but they get a place to live, food to eat and entertainment. But others think this is just slave labor. Steve is so impressed with Cassius’s ability to market that he wants him to manage his newest endeavor, making Equisapiens. Equisapiens are people who take a specific drug giving them the strength of horses and also change their physical appearance to look like a person and a horse. Because of their strength, Lift claims can do more work better.

There is more to this film and it is even more bizarre including a reality show called “I Got the S#*@ Kicked Out of Me”.

As I watched this story unfold, all of a sudden someone I know in real life appears on the screen as a newscaster. Ken Baggott is the newscaster that gives us a play by play during the film. That was a great surprise.

Stanfield was excellent as the creative goal achieving telemarketer who had to decide whether he continues to pursue a career where he excels or support his girlfriend and friends and do the right thing. Thompson was outstanding as Cassius’s girlfriend. She’s very fluid in this role and made it very natural. Yuen was strong as the instigator for workers rights. Glover was excellent as the long-time telemarketer. Fowler was very strong as Cassius’s friend who supported his friend. Baggott was perfect as the newscaster. His voice and reporting of the events were spot on. Boots Riley wrote and directed this very creative and inventive film.

Overall: What made this work was the acting in an inventive creative film.

Free Fire

First Hit:  Not many screenwriters and directors attempt to shoot an entire film in one room and this film shows why. Part of the issue with shooting a film in a one room, with a few scenes outside the room, is that the room set has to be dynamic or amazing and/or the characters have to be inspiring and so engaging that the audience is on the edge of their seat. Some films focus on one or the other while most of the rest try to focus on both. This one appears to focus on character development but by limiting any movement in the set because people are in a gunfight and pinned down, the difficulty in making the characters interesting, is pronounced.

What we have is two factions. One group wants to buy some M-16 rifles and another group wants to sell guns. The deal is filled with mistrust as the rifles that get delivered to the meeting place, a broken-down warehouse, are not M-16s. This creates tension between the two factions.

What blows this up is one of the guys Stevo (Sam Riley) who’s on the team buying the guns for the IRA, got beaten up by Harry (Jack Reynor), one of the guys from the seller’s team. Harry beat-up Stevo because he said some very rude things to his sister. When they each recognized each other they start to fight and the two sides begin shooting at each other and thus begins about an hours’ worth of shooting in a small confined space.

During the shooting the sides call out to each other and some of their past association comes to light.

There are very amusing parts and quips along the way which worked, however, the fight was too long and it ran out steam about 20 – 25 minutes into the gun battle. Although the ending wasn’t predictable, it didn’t mean much because I didn’t care a whole lot.

Regardless of the film, if there is nothing to root for, care about, or associate/connect with, then the experience dies and the film fades from my mind just as soon as I get up out of my seat.

The actors that stood out during this film were: Armie Hammer (as Ord) the strong arm. Brie Larson (as Justine) as the smoother between the two groups. Sharlto Copley (as Vernon) another strong arm. Others, like Riley and Reynor, were good, however this film didn’t quite lend itself to strong acting, just short quips and brief explosions of anger or shooting. Amy Jump and Ben Wheatley wrote a quippish script. Wheatley as director did get something out of the limited script, but after 20 minutes of the OK corral in a broken down warehouse the film just fizzled out.

Overall: This film had possibilities but in the end, it failed on all levels.

Nocturnal Animals

First Hit:  Outstanding acting in a film that lives to the feeling of its name.

The opening credits are viewed on the backdrop of one of the oddest art displays I’ve ever seen. The display is of very large and overweight naked women dancing live. The rest of the exhibit is of live heavy women in various positions on platforms in the gallery.

The art gallery owner is Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) who lives with her husband in an amazingly large modern house in the LA/Hollywood hills. Her husband Hutton (Armie Hammer) is distant from her, appears to be wealthy, but also indicates there’s money trouble. His illusive and distant behavior points to something else going on in his life and then he abruptly tells Susan he has to go back to New York for business.

Susan receives a package from her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) and it is a book he’s written. She opens the book and sees that it is dedicated to her and the title, “Nocturnal Animal”, was Edward’s nickname for her. As she lies awake in bed, she begins reading the book hoping to help her sleep. However, the story is very intense and it peaks her interest immediately.

From here the film slips in and out of the book’s story, the present time of her reading the book, and past reflections of her former husband and their life together. The past story is about how much she loved Edward and finding that her mom, Anne Sutton (Laura Linney), may have been right that eventually Susan would seek out someone more financially successful and strong than Edward.

The book’s story is very intense as it describes Tony Hastings (Jake Gyllenhaal in a different role), his wife Laura (Isla Fisher) and daughter India (Ellie Bamber) being driven off the road during a road trip through Texas. The men shoving them off the road Ray, Lou and Turk (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Karl Glusman and Robert Aramayo respectively) are local miscreants known for having a slightly troubled past.

The story continues where they give the Hasting family a hard time and end up separating Tony from his wife and daughter. Eventually finding assistance, Sherriff Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon) takes the case to help Tony find his family. Finding them raped and killed, Tony is crushed while Andes makes it his focused mission to find the killers.

As the film slips from the present of Susan reading the book, to her memories of her relationship with Edward and then to the intense book she’s reading, you can tell that she’s unhappy with her current lot in life, and wants to accept an invitation offered to her by Edward to meet for dinner.

She says yes to the dinner invitation and doesn’t seemed surprised by the outcome.

I really liked the way this film moved between the three different sets and scenes. The coolness and sadness of the current time, the intensity and fury of the book’s story of Tony, and the ideal and joy in Susan and Edward’s budding relationship of the past. These stories and their settings were wonderfully choreographed and  delivered. Additionally, the  transitions between them were wonderfully done.

Gyllenhaal continues to deliver top notch performances. The way he delivers his two characters which have a common theme was excellent. This is an Award worthy performance. Adams, is divine. She’s perfect as the hauntingly beautiful “Nocturnal Animal”. Sitting in the theater, I could feel her struggle. Just as with her role in “Arrival”, Adams is showing everyone why she is so good. Shannon is really on his game here. I’ve really come to appreciate his work and here as an intense, "I don’t give a fuck" sheriff, he’s wonderful. He is this role. Fisher and Bamber were wonderful as Tony’s wife and daughter. I also loved how director Tom Ford used their red hair to tie in Adams’ character as well. It created connections and a tie between the book and Susan’s current life. Hammer was perfect in this small role. Taylor-Johnson, Glusman and Aramayo were great as the books antagonists and the way for Tom to express his rage and gain strength in the end. Linney is perfect as Susan’s well-healed mother. Her look and use of language was great. Ford wrote and directed this film with a clear vision for what he wanted. His effort is worthy for Award consideration to say the least.

Overall:  This is a dark moody, thriller that really worked.