The Front Runner

First Hit: I liked the feel of the film in that it felt almost documentary like versus a deep dive into the character(s).

Like Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman) the candidate himself, the film didn’t go into his feelings or into the deeply personal aspects of the main character. Gary, as portrayed here, only wanted it to be about good ideas, a government that runs well, a government that focuses on people, and a strong ethical honest government.

The problem is that he didn’t think the public's opinion about his ethics towards his marriage and wife mattered. Gary comes across as if the big picture of what he represented for government was the only thing worth discussing and everything else he was above discussing. This was his downfall, because as we know, people must also relate to a Presidential candidate at a personal level as well and if they cannot, any flaws that are publicly played out will find a life of their own and possibly doom the candidacy.

His wife, Lee Hart (Vera Farmiga), liked her life living on a Colorado ranch and didn’t like engaging with and traveling with Gary as he campaigned for President. The scenes where Gary and Lee are together, were strong in how they related to each other at a level that worked for them and maybe it wasn’t typical.

In one scene, Lee states, “I only asked that you not embarrass me.” He did embarrass Lee and did so by attending a gathering of supporters on a boat called “Monkey Business” where he met a young woman named Donna Rice (Sara Paxton). The press then, and a little in the film, made fun of where he met Donna Rice, a young beautiful blonde and smart (graduated “summa cum laude”) woman. Hart’s disdain for the party and the people on the boat, except Donna, is aptly shown.

In press interviews, like on the boat, Gary only wanted to talk about the important stuff and this philosophy was echoed by his campaign manager Bill Dixon (J.K. Simmons). They didn’t want to appear on food shows or go to fairs in Iowa. He didn’t want to be asked about what he liked and, on the occasion, where he’d show up to a public event, like the lumberjack contest, he wanted to be seen as honest, strong, and the man with the answers who could also throw an axe.

The film floats, with distance from all the characters, from scene to scene. We pop into press briefings, strategy sessions, team meetings, telephone calls, press interviews. Everything is done with some distance except when Donna and Irene Kelly (Molly Ephraim) spend time together as Donna gets moved out of Washington DC, where she had a tryst with Gary, and back to Miami FL.

The scene when Donna goes down the escalator in Miami’s airport is heartbreaking because she’s alone and Irene can no longer help her. Irene sitting at the bar, is so telling.

With a slight distance, we watch newspaper editors discussing covering Hart and reporters doing their job of digging up stories that either support or do not support the candidate. The Washington Post reporter Roy Valentine (Nyasha Hatendi) interview with Gary and the press interview where Roy asks very poignant questions were very powerful scenes. The breakdown of Gary’s façade was perfect.

When his team learns, that Gary is leaving the presidential race, the team, who so believed in him, are disappointed, and it shows.

Jackman was excellent as the handsome, smart politician with great hair, Gary Hart. His ability to keep people at a distance, while drawing them in with his ideas was perfect. Farmiga was wonderful as Lee Hart. Her hurt was appropriately displayed while showing her strong independent nature as well. Hatendi was outstanding as the reporter learning the ropes of asking the hard questions. Loved the scene in the final press briefing Gary gave. Ephraim was sublime as the key woman on Gary’s campaign team, who also had a heart. When she asked Gary at dinner about how Donna was doing, his response showed so well on her face. Simmons was great as Gary’s campaign manager. His distaste for making it personal was perfectly aligned with Gary’s view of the world, until it didn’t. Paxton was wonderful as Donna. I loved her telling Irene about her previous boyfriends over drinks. Matt Bai, Jay Carson, Jason Reitman wrote a strong telling script that was well executed by director Reitman.

Overall: I liked how story played out on film.

Patriots Day

First Hit:  This was an interesting perspective of a very tragic event in Boston and America’s history.

This dramatization of a horrific event was both; interesting from a historical perspective and not very engaging from a character standpoint. The film took a very broad perspective of the people to be included as characters. It included the various law enforcement agencies including; the Boston Police Department, the FBI, Watertown Police Department, MIT Police Department and a couple of other US Government agencies. From a citizen perspective, there were both students and citizens from various neighborhoods.

The filmmakers made attempts to provide backstories, or history per se, of certain characters, however despite being helpful at a small level it was difficult to engage with anyone at an emotional level. For example; Police Officer Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) was the lead character and we learn early on he’s got a history with the department and is on probation. Why? We never really find out but there are multiple references to alcohol and there are a couple scenes where he drinks when it might have been better if he didn’t.

But this isn’t the story, but it nagged at me that we didn’t have this history. The story is about how Boston and others captured the brothers, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Alex Wolff and Themo Melikidze respectively), who become radicalized Muslim bombers and exploded two bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

The film tries to track a lot of people including: the Tsarnaev brothers, Tamerlan’s wife Katherine Russell (Melissa Benoist), Officer Saunders, bomb injured married couple Patrick Downes (Christopher O’Shea) and Jessica Kensky (Rachel Brosnahan), MIT Officer Sean Collier (Jake Picking), car jacked Dun Meng (Jimmy O. Yang), Boston Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman), Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (Vincent Curatola), FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers (Kevin Bacon), Watertown Police Sergeant Jeffery Pugliese (J. K. Simmons), Carol Saunders (Michelle Monaghan), Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (Michael Beach), and a host of others. It begins the evening before the bombing and goes to when they were captured (Dzhokhar) and killed (Tamerlan). One thing that was interesting was that this film had one of the largest credited and uncredited casts for any film in recent memory.

The filmmakers used some archival footage as well as re-enacted scenes in following the brothers, law enforcement, and citizens over subsequent week as the brothers tried to escape, go to New York to place another bomb, and how they were captured through the use of technology, law enforcement officers, and the bravery of citizens.

Wahlberg was very good as the film’s key focal point. I wanted to know more of why he was being punished, but from a character point of view he was very strong. Wolff and Melikidze were both very solid as the brothers who brought this havoc to Boston. I think they did a great job of emoting the attitude as affected Muslim radicals. Bacon was wonderful as the FBI agent trying to get the bombers identified and captured quickly. O’Shea and Brosnahan were wonderful as the married couple that lost limbs, survived, and made it back to a subsequent race. Yang was really good as the young man whose car was hijacked by the brothers during their escape. Simmons was OK as the Watertown Sergeant. Goodman was strong as the Commissioner. Picking was wonderful as the caring officer that was shot by the brothers. Monaghan was engaging as Officer Saunders’ wife. Peter Berg, Matt Cook, and Joshua Zetumer wrote a very ambitious screenplay that attempted to cover numerous stories around this very tragic event. In this ambitious effort, it lost a little heart and focus. Peter Berg did his best to cover this expansive story.

Overall:  This is an amazing story to tell and it does honor the affected people.

La La Land

First Hit:  It will touch your heart with joy and sorrow because of its exquisite acting and beautiful stylistic presentation.

From the very beginning, the audience knows they are going for a ride. The partially obscured black and white “CinemaScope” logo morphing to a unobstructed full color logo gave only a hint of the amazing film to follow. The opening scene with the camera panning numerous cars and drivers stuck on a LA Freeway on ramp, with each driver listening to a different radio station, all of a sudden transforming to a big-time dance number with people using both the cars and lane dividers as props was genius and sets the tone that this film will be a musical and will be different in the ways it integrates the musical dance sequences with the acting.

We are then introduced to Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) through sequences of the work they do and the things they are interested in. She is an aspiring actress who supports herself as a barista in a coffee house located on the Warner Brothers movie lot. He’s a jazz pianist in small club, wishes to own his own jazz club playing traditional jazz improvisation.

They meet after he honks at her in the opening traffic jam, after she walks into the club he’s playing in (just after he gets fired), and again when he walks into her place of work. By the time they walk through the Warner Bros lot, the audience has a strong sense of their path and them as a couple you care about.

During the film, we are treated to a wonderful, hopeful story that segued into well-conceived dance, song, and piano scenes by Mia and Sebastian. There are two things that struck me about these scenes:  1) The dance sequences were shot full bodied and all-encompassing instead of a series of composed edits and cuts showing feet, facial expressions, and a whirl of colors and bodies. This is how musical dance sequences were shot early on by the very best (Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly) of this genre. And 2); They did their own work. They did their own singing, dancing, and for Gosling, piano playing. They were strong, real and imperfectly perfect, just like all of us.

In my book, this just why these talented two are top box office draws and are two of our best. However, a lot of the credit for this amazing film belongs to the clear direction and vision of director Damien Chazelle who showed us his abilities in “Whiplash”, another outstanding film. Lastly, I loved the old time ending by using "The End" at the close of the film, it perfectly bookended the opening,

Gosling is absolutely riveting and sublime. His extraordinary talent is so obvious in every scene he’s in. He is a excellent pianist, his suave smooth dance movements are a joy to watch and his acting is top notch. He may be nominated for an award for this turn. Stone is wonderful and clearly made for this part. Her hopeful joy, moments of moving sadness and the ability to move from a dramatic scene into a dance scene were exceptional. J. K. Simmons as Bill, in his very brief scenes, was very good. John Legend as Keith, a musical group leader, was strong and a joy to see. Chazelle wrote and directed this film. Because I was emotionally moved throughout the film, I can say he was very successful in delivering his vision. He and his film is worth an award nomination.

Overall:  Although I normally don’t like musicals, I laughed, cried and my heart was touched throughout this fantastic film.

The Accountant

First Hit:  I walked away liking this film because it drew me into the dramatic story while also being out-loud funny during the interchanges between Christian and Dana.

A young Christian Wolff (Seth Lee) is shown as a highly functional autistic young boy. His wizardry is displayed by completing a complex puzzle upside down. His parents, Chris and his brother Brax (played by Jake Presley as the boy and Jon Bernthal as an adult) are visiting the Harbor Neuroscience Institute home to find out how to help their son survive in the world. Although they are offered help, the father thinks there are other ways to “fix” his son. Throughout this film we are treated to some of those ways, which gives us the back story as to why Christian and Brax are so relentlessly good at using guns and martial arts. What didn’t make sense to me was how these brothers got separated later in life.

To make a living, the adult Christian (Ben Affleck) is an accountant with extraordinary skills to help clients resolve any type of financial issue. Because of his condition, he is relentless at completing the job and is incredibly efficient. We see him help a farmer husband and wife team as well as seeing pictures where he’s working with the mob, other criminals, and foreign entities.

When called on a new case by “The Voice” (a phone voice only with a smiley face in the phone's interface), he's asked to discover where the missing money is for Living Robotics, a company headed by CEO Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow). After arriving at company headquarters, he sits down to meet with the CFO and CEO for an interview. The interview is amusing, but the audience sees why he gets the job. On the first day of work, he’s greeted by Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) who is the company’s accountant that discovered the accounting problem. During the introduction, and almost every interaction past this, the discussion between these two is interesting, funny and engaging. A definite highlight to this film.

When he discovers the problem, and the source reasons behind the diversion of funds, the film changes tenor and it becomes more of an action thriller.

While all this is going on, Ray King (J.K. Simmons) a Director at the Treasury Department, is trying to find out who changed his life before he retires. What he knows is that someone saved his life, and that there are a few brief pictures of a person that seems to know a lot of criminals, helps them with funneling money, but might have a deadly hand as well.

To assist him, King hires Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) by leveraging her past and gives her a month to find this ghost of a person. Yup, you guessed it, it’s The Accountant. This part of the film felt like a side note to highlight a particular aspect of Christian’s background. Additionally, it also provided a level of context of law and authority to Christian’s actions. However I thought it convoluted the story and imagined this film would have worked by leaving this part out, and this isn’t what happened. Regardless, I found many of the scenes very engaging, interesting, and funny.

Affleck is very strong as Christian. The disassociated looks and the matter-a-fact ways of having verbal exchanges worked for me. Because he needed to be both an efficient accountant and ruthless in actions there had to be a line that he walked that didn’t destroy the illusion of either. Lee was perfect - sublime in all ways. Kendrick was her witty, nerdy, inquisitive self, a role she does so well (think Up in the Air). Her exchanges with Affleck were very well done. Simmons was good as the man affected by The Accountant in a good way. Addai-Robinson was very good as the person needing to not be found out by doing her job well. John Lithgow was adequate as the company owner who was concealing secrets. Jon Bernthal was very strong as Affleck’s brother and protector. Jeffrey Tambor (as Francis Silverberg) was outstanding as Affleck’s cell mate who treated him like a son and gave him knowledge, skills and connections allowing him to make a very good living for himself when he left prison. Bill Dubuque wrote an overly complex screenplay, however it did work. Gavin O’Connor did a wonderful job of weaving together the two stories. Many of the scenes were well shot, like when the farmer scoffs that Christian cannot hit a target a mile away, then Christian pulls the trigger.

Overall:  Leaving the theater, I realized that this film kept me interested and engaged.

The Meddler

First Hit:  The film had funny bits and it was Susan Sarandon’s performance that held it together.

When the film opens, Marnie (Sarandon) has been a widow for over a year. Her husband left her with enough money that she doesn’t have to worry about any financial matters and she's not dealt with her husbands ashes yet. She's moved out to Los Angeles to be near her daughter Lori (Rose Byrne) who has just broken up with her boyfriend Jacob (Jason Ritter).

Lori is devastated by the breakup and therein-lies one of the downfalls of this film, we really don’t know why. And even in the short scenes those two have together, there are no clues.

Because we know nothing of their relationship, we  are expected to believe that the depressed malaise Lori carries around is valid. Unfortunately, I didn’t buy it. This could be the issue of the screenplay, director, or actor.

With her daughter being depressed, Marnie is ready, willing and able to meddle in her daughter's life. She calls Lori at least 15 times a day and leaves long meandering messages, tries to tell her daughter what to do with her life, and shows up at her house unannounced. She smothers her daughter and appears clueless that she is acting this way.

When Lori heads to New York for work, Marnie suggests going with her. Lori says no, so Marnie starts to meddle in Lori’s friends lives. The difference is that they like it, although some of the attraction is that she has money and seems willing to spend it on them, including a wedding for a lesbian couple.

She also transports her Apple Genius Bar helper Freddy/Fredo (Jerrod Carmichael) to his school classes. All the things she does are for other people, and it's clear she’s not facing her own deep sorrow. She happens to meet Zipper (J.K. Simmons) who is a retired police officer and his accepting kind nature helps her begin to see a next step, which means moving along with her life.

Sarandon is very strong and effective as the meddling Marnie. Sarandon gives Marnie a strength of character and disarming charm that works well in this film. Byrne is OK, however I never bought her devastation from breaking up with Jacob. It seemed more like she was acting as a character versus playing and embodying the situational circumstance of the character. Carmichael was very good as the Apple Genius Bar guy who wants to improve his life. Simmons seemed to channel his best Sam Elliot with the mustache, deep voice and calm demeanor. Not that it was bad, but it just seemed like Elliot could have been substituted with little difference. Lorene Scafaria wrote and directed this film and it would seem she has had some experience with a “meddler” in her own life.

Overall:  Despite some of the film's faults, it was entertaining and at times very funny.