The Chaperone

First Hit: In its own way, I really enjoyed the way societal subjects are addressed in this story.

The story takes place in and around the 1930s (and later) and begins in Wichita, Kansas goes to New York City and then back to Kansas.

Norma Carlisle (Elizabeth McGovern) is reluctantly attending a party set up to present Myra Brooks’ (Victoria Hill) daughter Louise (Haley Lu Richardson), in a modern dance recital.

There is tension in Norma between her and her husband Alan (Campbell Scott) along with a social awkwardness that Norma carries in the gathered groups.

During the recital, Norma overhears Myra tell someone that she is looking for a chaperone for her daughter’s upcoming trip to New York to take classes at the Denishawn School of Dance.

Although the audience finds out later, we’re not clear at that moment why Norma is drawn to and wants to take on this responsibility of becoming Louise’s Chaperone. At the first meeting of Norma and Louise, we are treated to the blossoming curiosity and know-it-all attitude of this young seventeen-year-old girl.

The trip to New York by train shows where this film will go; respect, disagreements, and friendship.

The story flows quite nicely and has fun moments, but what struck me was how it addressed, infidelity, gay relationships, adoption, parenting, family dynamics, sexual assault, fame, racism, and other societal issues that we are still addressing today. This is the treasure of this film.

McGovern was superlative in this role, and her face, when she meets her mother for the first time, is priceless. Watching the inward feelings change as the conversation progresses was subtle and powerful. Richardson was fantastic in the role of a dancer who was wise beyond her years. She carried the wisdom of her past and the challenge of youth, wonderfully. Hill, as Louise’s mother, was impressive. I liked that it made sense for her daughter to be the way she was because of how she was raised by Myra. Blythe Danner as Mary O’Dell was excellent. You could just feel how she wanted to both acknowledge her past but to keep it separate from her present. Scott was excellent as Norma’s troubled husband doing his best to live with his truth. Geza Rohrig as Joseph, the man who was the nun’s handyman was outstanding. His understanding and compassion were bright spots in the story. Andrew Burnap as Floyd, the fountain bar worker, was good. Julian Fellowes wrote a progressive screenplay that covered so many exciting topics. Michael Engler got fantastic performances from the cast and created an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable movie.

Overall: This film may not seem like much, but if you dig deeper, the audience is in for a real treat.

The Edge of Seventeen

First Hit:  This is a wonderfully full and expressive film about growing up.

The opening scene sets the stage. Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) bursts into Mr. Bruner’s (Woody Harrelson) classroom at lunch, sits across from her teacher and tells him she’s going to kill herself. His response is priceless as is most of his dialogue with Nadine.

As the audience starts to understand her current crisis, you see that she doesn’t think much of herself, has very low self-esteem, and the film shows a myriad of scenes being alone through childhood. Her best friend, as a young girl, is her father (Tom – played by Eric Keenleyside) who can make her laugh and see the bright side of things. And if all else fails there might be a cheeseburger in her future.

Finally, she meets Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) who becomes her fast-best friend. They do everything together and the scenes of her father watching Nadine and Krista exploring the world together makes him extremely happy.

Unexpectedly her father dies and Nadine takes this loss very hard. Her mother Mona (Kyra Sedgwick) and brother Darian (Blake Jenner) become Nadine’s foils and rescuers. Darian is a perfect son, excels in everything thing he does, and shows up to his family in every crisis. It is a lot for a young man in high school. Mona, does her best as a slightly scattered mother, holding down a job and being head of household.

Nadine is socially awkward and the scenes where she attempts to connect with others are wonderfully staged. Krista helps her to smooth out the rough edges and accepts her fully, but when Darian shows a romantic interest in Krista, Nadine falls apart. She cannot stand her perfect brother in his perfect life and now he has her best friend as well.

Have you ever accidently sent a text you didn’t mean to send? The engagement of this and other angst stories, real or not real, are part of the fascination of this film. One thinks that Mr. Bruner may not care, but that isn’t true. The belief that Darian has a perfect life, gets tossed in the air as he goes to rescue Nadine and their mom, yet again. Krista must learn to accept and balance her friendship and love interest with non-attachment and acceptance. And of course, there is Nadine, who slowly learns to see the coolness and honest sweetness in Erwin (Hayden Szeto) as he shows her his interests in life.

Steinfeld is utterly fantastic. This is her film and she is “The Edge of Seventeen”. She may get an award nomination for this role and in my book, she earns it. Harrelson once again shows why he is one of the very best character actors we have today. He’s perfectly poignant in how he can be perceived as not caring, but really does care. Keenleyside is wonderful as Nadine’s dad in this brief but effective role. Richardson is wonderful as Nadine’s best friend. Loved the balance and acceptance she brought to the character. Jenner is equally wonderful in his role as the brother. He’s committed to his family and yet he’s striving for his life as well. Sedgwick is perfect as the harried loving mother who is doing her best to survive tragedy of loss and hold her family together. Szeto is an amazing find and gives a wonderful performance as another socially awkward young man trying to find his way. Kelly Fremon Craig wrote an amazing script and, with a great feel for the angst of a young teenager, directed this fantastic cast to deliver a great film.

Overall:  I was really taken away in this coming of age story.

The Bronze

First Hit:  It was tough to watch and listen to Hope's (Melissa Rauch) dialogue, however, I think the overall concept held together.

Hope is deeply holding on to the fame she gained by winning an overall gymnastic bronze medal she won in the 2004 Olympics.

Her winning overshadowed other gymnastic Olympians because she severely hurt her ankle on the balance beam but did finish the completion by doing the uneven bars which earned her a Bronze Medal.

Coming back to her hometown she received a hero’s welcome and benefited from  perks the town gave her (own parking space in town, free sneakers, and other things) ever since. This even includes a sign of her achievement under the town’s “Welcome” sign.

She doesn't have a job, she steals from her dad’s mail truck, she wears her Olympic warm-up suit each and every day. She’s gained some weight but keeps the hair style, including the bangs she had during her heyday. She’s rude to almost everyone she meets and has a horrible attitude. Watching the scene when she first meets Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson), the town’s new gymnastics super star, she barely looks at her during the entire conversation.

She is challenged, by money, to coach Maggie because Maggie’s coach dies. They end up working together at Ben’s (Thomas Middleditch) gym. There are a few nice gymnastic sequences to watch and if you can get by the raunchiness of Hope, it actually isn’t a bad film.

Rauch holds her character most all the way though the film, but it isn’t a character we can really care about, even at the end there’s an edge that is bothersome. Middleditch is very good as Ben (Twitch). Richardson is almost too naïve as the upcoming gymnast. Gary Cole as Hope’s dad Stan was very good in that he was believable. Melissa and Winston Rauch wrote the screenplay which erred on the side of too raunchy and mean. Bryan Buckley directed this with reasonable clarity and what failed was the script.

Overall:  The concept for me worked well but the film’s main character seemed overboard in the role.