Knives Out

First Hit: An enjoyable investigative romp with a group of very capable actors in an old fashion story.

This film reminded me of an old fashion crime drama, sort of like a “Clue” game. What makes this movie work is the way these capable actors tell this tale of crime and deceit in both a comedic and dramatic way.

Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas) is an in-home nurse who has also befriended her only client, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). Harlan is very wealthy from writing eighty successful mystery novels. His health is failing, hence the need for Marta. Marta has become his only true confidant because the rest of the family, except his daughter Linda Drysdale (Jamie Lee Curtis), totally lives off his generosity.

Linda and her husband Richard (Don Johnson) live in Harlan’s home and don’t fully escape from Harlan’s largeness because he funded Linda’s successful real estate business. They have a son Hugh Ransom Drysdale (Chris Evans), who is arrogant, flippant, and smart while living off an allowance from Harlan.

Harlan’s home is large and his mother, Great Nana (K Callan) lives with him. She doesn’t talk and sits in a wheelchair throughout the film but plays an important role in the story. Other family members who are living off Harlan’s wealth and success include; Walt Thrombey (Michael Shannon), his wife Donna (Riki Lindhome) who run Harlan’s publishing company. Joni Thrombey (Toni Collette) who is Harlan’s deceased son Neil’s wife, and their daughter Meg (Katherine Langford), who receive an allowance from Harlan for Meg’s schooling. Each of them are taking advantage of Harlan and during the film’s story, each of these ways are explored more fully.

The family has gathered to celebrate Harlan’s 85th birthday. During this party, most of the family, we learn, have discussions with Harlan about his largeness towards them.

The next morning, after the party, the housekeeper Fran (Edi Patterson) finds Harlan dead in his study with his throat slit, it appears to be a suicide.

However, someone has anonymously hired Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) a famous southern investigator to find out if it was murder or suicide. Blanc, working with the police, begin to unravel the mystery as to why Blanc was hired to be involved.

The police are convinced it was suicide, but the extraordinary questioning skills of Blanc and his inquisitive mind of solving puzzles begins to shed a different light on Harlan’s death. Slowly, and methodically, his interviews begin to piece a different story together.

One of the funnier parts of the interviewing process by Blanc, we learn that Marta cannot lie. If she lies, she throws up. There are a couple hilarious, slightly gross, scenes of this.

When the lawyer comes and the Will is read, everyone gathers to find out that Harlan has left everything, I mean everything, to Marta. The family doesn’t know what to do, or how they will survive, or do they?

Craig is hilariously fantastic as the investigator Benoit Blanc. His slow southern drawl and idiosyncrasies, during the interviews using the piano, are spot on funny and pointed. Evans is perfect as the conniving Ransom. His ability to be both charming and evil are perfect. Armas is sublime as Marta. Her expressions of the fear of doing something wrong, her caution because having a mother who is illegally in the country, and also wanting to do the right thing for Harlan are excellent. Curtis is outstanding as the daughter who wants more. Shannon is terrific as the son who thinks he’s in charge of Harlan’s business but really is just a pawn. Collette is perfectly flighty and conniving as the social influencer and thief in the name of her daughter Meg. The rest of the cast is equally good in making this a wonderful romp. Rian Johnson wrote and directed this fun filled mystery and got the best out of everyone for their roles.

Overall: This was a perfect, fun filled, and enjoyable movie to sit through.

Lucky Logan

First Hit:  Funny at times but lacked intrigue and substance.

Director Steven Soderbergh had previously indicated he’d quit making films.  I guess it wasn't true. Here he made a film that could be compared with his other action crime films, Oceans 11 through 13, although dumbed down. You'd think think he had the formula down, but he must not have, this one didn't work.

Maybe the mistake was thinking that making the same kind of robbery/crime film with people that aren’t very bright would be interesting or compelling. Unfortunately, it wasn't as it because the storyline didn't translate out of Las Vegas at all. Although he tried to reduce the complexity of the crime and dumb things down because of the characters, it didn’t work because the actual details to pull off this crime and the reveal at the end, weren’t believable.

Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) is a doting and wonderful father to Sadie (Farrah Mckenzie). His former wife, Bobbie Jo Chapman (Katie Holmes), is antagonistic towards him but she does see his love for their daughter. He gets fired from his job, through no real fault of his own, because of a old football injury. He does appear to have some smarts about him.

His brother Clyde (Adam Driver) is slow and not very bright. He lost his arm in the Iraq war and has a prosthetic that is somewhat useless to him as a bartender in a local dive. Jimmy also has a sister Mellie (Riley Keogh) who runs a small town beauty salon and knows a hell of a lot about cars.

The location is significant because it is near the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Logan clan needs money, so the brothers decide to rob the speedway. Hatching a plan, they decide they need to blow up a safe and decide to hire an incarcerated Joe Bang (Daniel Craig), who is an expert at blowing up safes. Upon hearing the plan, Joe tells Jimmy and Clyde that he'll need his slow hick brothers Fish (Jack Quaid) and Sam (Brian Gleeson) to help him. He wants them to get the explosives and to break the raceway’s computer payment system. The brothers quote was priceless: “I knows all about them twitters and such”, this gives the audience an idea of their ilk.

This team does come up with an ingenious plan to get Joe out of prison without the prison knowing, rob the raceway, and take the heat off them after the robbery. However, the ending leaves a question as to whether they will get away with it as Special Agent Sarah Grayson (Hilary Swank), who seems to be the smartest person in the film, bellies up to the bar in the end and starts talking with Clyde.

Tatum was good, but I didn’t buy his perceived dumbness nor his smartness, and maybe that was the point. Driver was OK as a slow dedicated brother. He almost came across at too dumb. Keogh was fantastic as the smart as a whip sister that knew how to control what she needed to control. Mckenzie was excellent as Tatum’s and Holmes’ daughter. She was very engaging to watch. Holmes was OK as mother and former wife. Craig was odd in this role. There was something that didn’t work for me as him being a hick. However, he did create an over the top character. Quaid and Gleeson were very good in their dumb brother roles and it appears they’ve picked up the acting chops of their parents. Rebecca Blunt wrote the screenplay. What didn’t work was not making the characters believable. Their actions and a lack of character depth created too many questions about the story. Soderbergh made some of the comedy work, but the weakness, for me, lay in the believability of the characters and congruency of their actions.

Overall:  This film is funny at times, but fails where it really needs to be strong, pulling plausibility out of characters and their actions.

Spectre

First Hit:  Liked the opening scenes, absolutely cringed at the overblown banal opening credits and, while this film was generally more serious and less tongue-in-cheek as the original Bond films, it works well enough.

Bond (Daniel Craig) is working on his own. He’s working from a brief video clip clue from his now deceased boss “M” (Judi Dench). With this clue he’s off to find and eliminate the core of the problem that is haunting the MI-6 team while his current boss “M” (Ralph Fiennes) is not supporting him – officially.

The double “0” form of fighting crime is being phased out according to “C” (Andrew Scott) with new technology which is being created and financed by the guy Bond is after; the wickedly sarcastic and masochistic Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). Supporting Bond in is mission are “Q” (Ben Whishaw), Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and a reluctant Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux).

The film is a travelogue, going to many different countries and climates with Bond nattily dress for each place and occasion. The beauty and intensity of the various venues were expertly caught and this really adds to the film. However, one of the hallmark behaviors of the early bond films was an underlying level of tongue-in-cheek comments by Bond and the other characters that kept the audience bemused while watching violent struggles, things being blown up, and people being shot; were few and far between.

Craig is great as Bond mainly because he carries intensity, physicality, and intelligence, all wrapped up in one package. Waltz is playing the same type of character he’s played in other films. He does this role well but it doesn’t bode well when the audience isn’t surprised by the villain. Whishaw is really wonderful in his smallish role as "Q" (Quartermaster). It is nice to see his role expanded even as the technology he presents becomes more interesting. Harris is very cool and centering as Moneypenny. Fiennes role grows as the film reaches its conclusion and it helps the film. Seydoux is very good as someone who reluctantly ends up being protected by Bond and as a love interest. Scott is strong as the arrogant young tech savvy guy that lacks experience. John Logan and Neil Purvis wrote this slightly over complicated script. Sam Mendes did a wonderful job of putting Bond in great scenes and venues and making the script work.

Overall:  This film, although good, seems to stray from past unconvincingly.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

First Hit:  Better than I thought it would be with a good story, believable acting, and the way suspense was created.

Carrying on the legacy of Clancy’s Jack Ryan character is a tall order. Just like carrying on the 007 story with different actors, it takes someone who can embody the spirit of the character, yet show us something and someone new. Daniel Craig has definitely moved 007 forward.

Here Chris Pine, just as he did with Captain Kirk, moved the character of Jack Ryan forward. As his mentor, Kevin Costner is excellent as Commander Thomas Harper. I loved his wry smile, direct commands and hands on engagement.

This is where this film excels. It wasn’t someone behind a desk giving commands from HQ to the lowly analyst (Now your Operative) it was a team of people letting Ryan be the lead, yet knowing he was fully supported by a competent team made it all work. Keira Knightley, as Ryan’s wife Dr. Cathy Muller, was really good and it was great to see her again in a film role.

Briefly, Jack, inspired by September 11th, joins the Marines to fight for the US. He’s super smart and although he’s been sending great intelligence to the Marine’s HQ, he’s doing a grunt role. He gets hurt and rehabs at Walter Reed Hospital where he meets Dr. Muller. Harper read Ryan’s reports and begins to recruit him into the CIA.

As an intelligence analyst he’s real good, and on a trip to Russia to do an audit of a client, he uncovers a plot to destroy the US (of course you would expect this from a Jack Ryan story). It is here that he becomes an operative. Just because we know the ending doesn't take away from the way we get there.

This is what makes this film very watchable, entertaining, and enjoyable.

Pine was an excellent choice for the Ryan role with his charming good looks, intelligence, and ability to be physical. Costner was great as the older, wizened, and veteran CIA operative in charge of the mission. Knightly was sublime as Ryan’s wife Muller. There was enough strong independence as well as intelligent support of her husband. Kenneth Branagh as Viktor Cherevin was particularly strong and I felt he clearly knew how to direct himself. Adam Cozad and David Koepp wrote a wonderful script based on Tom Clancy’s characters. Branagh did a wonderful job of creating suspense and excitement throughout the film.

Overall:  This was a very entertaining film made well by strong people.

Skyfall

First Hit:  Action and more action but without much thoughtfulness.

Don’t get me wrong – Daniel Craig as 007 – James Bond, is at least neck-to-neck, (if not ahead of) with Sean Connery as my favorite Bond.

Whereas Connery’s Bond was sophisticated and debonair; Craig’s Bond is more rough and movement oriented. Therefore this film is more or less strictly an action film versus a thinking man’s Bond film.

Like the immediate predecessors, this film begins with a long sequence prior to the opening credits. In this case we are led to believe that James is killed. We all know this wouldn’t be true or else why would we have another 135 minutes left of film to watch?

This sort of telegraphing happens throughout the film; we know that arch enemy Silva (played by Javier Bardem) will only be killed in the end, and no matter how many times Bond has the opportunity throughout the film it will only happen in the end.

What was surprising was M’s (played by Judi Dench) involvement in the story. And in some ways I liked this touch. I liked that we involved other characters including M’s boss Gareth Mallory (played by Ralph Fiennes), Eve (ready for it) Moneypenny (played by Naomie Harris, and a new Q (played by Ben Whishaw).

The newish versions of old characters were introduced reasonably well which bridged the old Bond to the new Bond. However, this film just seemed to be just a series of action sequences stringed together with some dialogue. However, Silva’s character created an appropriate level of disturbed presence to move Bond to the next level of action.

Although many of the action scenes were amazingly put together, I thought the subway (tube) coming through the hole in the ceiling to be incorrect. The sequence is too long and the train would have stopped moving forward long before it did and it wasn't appropriately slowing down as it hit objects in its way. This would have been different in real life and therefore it didn’t come off a real crash.

Craig is a favorite Bond of mine and he’ll do more good Bond films if his natural intelligence is developed as well. Here he is superb in the action sequences. Bardem is appropriately spooky and devilish in his actions. Dench is strong but a feeling tired in this role. Harris is nicely interesting in her role as Eve, one of Bond's paramours. Whishaw is good and appropriately nerdy as the new Q. Fiennes, works out well as M’s boss and his slow engagement into the story works very well. Neil Purvis and Robert Wade wrote an action script and not one exemplifying Bond’s intelligence. Sam Mendes, showed a strong hand at creating interesting action scenes (motorcycle chase), helicopter use (both on the island and Skyfall), and the wonderful nostalgia of first using the new Jaguar (M’s car) to the old DB5 (Austin) with ejection seat button and machine gun headlights.

Overall: If you want to watch a lot action – go see this film.