The Mountain Between Us

First Hit: Although a predictable story, it was touchingly well acted.

The story is relatively simple. Two strangers with very specific needs hire a private plane to fly them from Boise, ID to Denver, CO because their Denver flight has been cancelled, and there are no other flights that will get them to their destinations on time. Ben Bass (Idris Elba) is a surgeon and is expected in Baltimore the next day to perform surgery on a 10-year old boy. Alex Martin (Kate Winslet) is a news photographer who needs to head east because she’s getting married the next day. They are both motivated.

Hiring Walter (Beau Bridges) a veteran pilot, they get in his small plane, and without a flight plan, head out over Rocky Mountains towards Denver. Walter has a heart attack and during his struggle the plane crashes. Walter dies, Alex breaks a leg but is alive and Ben has some cracked ribs and bumps and bruises. Walter’s dog, who came along for the ride, also survives the crash.

They hang out in the partial fuselage that remains hoping to be seen in the mountain snow, but as commercial planes fly thousands of feet above them, they have an argument about what to do. Alex is a chance taker and wants to climb out of the mountains, while Ben is conservative in thought and action and he wants to stay at the plane. Neither of them believe they are going to make it out alive.

One morning, she heads out hobbling along through the deep snow with a temporary splint on her left leg. The dog goes with her. Ben stays back at the plane but decides to catch up with Alex and, reconciling their different views, decide to make an attempt to get out together.

Because they are so different, this story is excellent to have the characters learn about each other in their own ways. Ben is quiet and doesn’t want to talk about his personal life while Alex shares about herself and spends energy coxing more feelings out of Ben.

The excellent script, photography and acting allowed the audience to feel how cold they were, the pain of their injuries, the sadness of almost dying, and their developing relationship. We feel their focus on staying alive and getting down the mountain. We participate in what they go through together and their hopelessness.

Winslet is very good as the adventuring photographer who takes risks. We could sense her adventurous spirit. Elba was excellent as the conservative acting surgeon. His slow unfolding and sharing of his life in the film was wonderful. Bridges was wonderful in his short lived role. J. Mills Goodloe and Chris Weitz co-wrote an excellent screenplay which captured a slow developing caring of the characters. Hany Abu-Assad directed these two gifted actors with clear intention. They were strangers when they started and were both from very different worlds, and Hany elicited a slow revealing of these actors to the audience and to each other.

Overall: Although it had a predictable ending, the meat of story of how they worked together to get themselves down the mountain was worth watching.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

First Hit:  Could not get into the story nor did I think it was well thought out.

A franchise series of films is always challenging. Even one of the best, Star Wars, has had some clunkers or at least clunker moments; think Jar Jar Binks in “Episode I – The Phantom Menace”. Where does this film fit with the series? My guess is that it probably fits after “Episode III:  Revenge of the Sith” and “Episode IV:  A New Hope”.

Was this film needed to make the series whole? Probably not, but it was a way for Disney to make it a key component in the series as this tells the bit about the Princess Leia (Ingvild Deila) and the Rebel Alliance getting the plans to Death Star. As we know in later episodes Leia implanted these plans into R2-D2.

Although this was an OK idea, the film fell apart in one of the later opening scenes where Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), his wife Lyra (Valene Kane), and their child Jyn (Dolly Gadsdon – youngest, Beau Gadsdon – young, and Felicity Jones - adult) were found by agents of the Empire hiding on a small deserted planet Lah’mu.

I do not know how, but during the dialogue between Galen and Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) about their involvement with the design and use of the Death Star, I lost interest. Maybe it was the convoluted opening, the rip off use of the opening for the first Star Wars film or maybe it was simply not interesting enough.

My hope picked up again when Saw Gerrera (Forrest Whitaker) finds young Jyn and takes her to safety. Here I thought, OK with Whitaker we'll get some meat into this storyline, but again this fell short. I've always been able to count on Whitaker to make something better, but his role wasn't critical and I fell back into unengaged and uninterested in what was taking place on the screen.

The story leaps in time to find Jyn (now played by Jones) being an important and, at times, a despised member of the Alliance because her father's role in completing work on the Death Star. Her status as leader or rebel of substance happens, not by anything she does, but because her father sends her a message, through a hologram, that he’s made a back-door flaw in the Death Star which the Alliance can use to destroy it.

By this time the audience is treated to an elongated battle which is poorly choreographed. There are some nice CG effects, but the acting, storyline and dependence on battle scenes to create action and interest weighed this film down.

Jones does not have the chops to make a believable rebel character or leader. There is a lack of innate strength of spirit which her acting cannot overcome that makes her a weak link in this film. Whitaker is wasted in this role as a wise elder warrior for the Alliance. Mikkelsen is good as Galen, but the role is limited by the script. Diego Luna (playing Cassian Ando Rebel Intelligence Officer) gave it his best, but the script and story didn’t have this character develop. His big turning point moment is when he’s supposed to kill Galen (unknown to Jyn); what does he choose? Donnie Wen (as Chirrut Imwe) playing a blind Jedi wanna-be was OK and provided some amusing moments. Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy wrote a weak script and the lack of direction, thereby creating an uninteresting film with characters we don't care about, falls on Gareth Edwards.

Overall:  This film feels like a throwaway created for money because all the main characters die, their story ends, and it filled a small gap in the Star Wars saga sequence.

Cinderella

First Hit:  I fully enjoyed this treatment of the long time tale.

What worked most about this film is that Lilly James as Cinderella was perfect.

She was of happy spirit inside and out and whether James is like this normally I don’t know, however she embodied joy, courage, and kindness. Richard Madden playing the Prince, was also perfect as the humble, yet intelligent prince.

Then there is the inimitable Cate Blanchett as the horrible Stepmother. Perfectly cast. The story needs no introduction but one of the things I really enjoyed was the use of computer and drawn animation throughout the film. The transformation of the mice, lizards, goose and pumpkin into the carriage to take Cinderella to the ball was amazingly entertaining.

The subtle touch of a mouse doing a backflip when the Prince and Cinderella walkout onto the balcony after their marriage – priceless. Disney did a great job of this.

James was fantastic, totally believable as the humble Cinderella. Madden was wonderful as the Prince. Blanchett was superlative as the wicked stepmother. Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother was perfect. Sophia McShera and Holliday Grainger as the evil step-sisters Drisella and Anastasia respectively were fully amusing and great in their parts. Chris Weitz wrote a great screenplay. Kenneth Branagh kept the story classically original, focused and entertainingly upgraded to today.

Overall:  This is a great family film expressing the greatness of courage and kindness.

A Better Life

First Hit: This was a powerfully acted film which showed light on the immigrant and immigration issue in the United States.

Carlos Galindo (played by Demian Bichir) is an illegal immigrant attempting to make a life for himself and his son in Los Angeles.

He keeps his head low. He attempts to be “invisible” while attempting to create a better life for his son. His wife has left him. The man he works for, Blasco Martinez (played by Joaquin Cosio), has been following his dream in LA as an owner operator of a gardening company and truck. He’s made enough to retire on a farm in Mexico so now he wants to sell his truck and business clients to Carlos.

Carlos is hesitant, it will put him into debt, he has no driver’s license, and he won’t be as invisible any longer. His son Luis (played by Jose Julian), is smart but being pulled by gangs, his gang linked girlfriend, and the embarrassment that his dad is a gardener. Carlos takes the risk, buys the truck and the events that follow bring him and his son closer together.

This film points out the difficulty illegal aliens have in staying in the United States. I was constantly reminded of the human work lineup that stand on the corners in our towns in the Bay Area.

Bichir is amazing as Carlos. The grip tight reigns on his emotions, the focus on showing up each day and doing a quality job but staying silent was perfect for his character. Cosio as his boss was emblematic of a man who did what he needed to do to get to his payday. Julian was very good as the son who is partially embarrassed yet proud of his father’s willingness to do what it takes to make a life for the two of them. Eric Eason wrote a wonderful screenplay. Chris Weitz selected wonderful locations and extracted a great performance from Galindo. Growing up in Southern California and as a father, I felt that Weitz got the feeling just right.

Overall: This was a wonderful film and definitely worth seeing.