Jamie Dornan

A Private War

First Hit: First Hit: Rosamund Pike (as Marie Colvin) gives a deeply complex performance of a war correspondent who brought personal stories of war victims to the forefront.

War isn’t just about the leaders of countries with idealistic differences and the soldiers of those leaders; it is about the victims of this conflict. Colvin was a committed pioneer in going into conflicts and documenting, in newspaper articles, the stories of the families, wives, mothers and children of wars around the world.

The film begins with her covering the conflict in Homs, Syria, and then segues to some of the previous wars she covered in her career. Sri Lanka is where she lost sight in her left eye. This causes her to begin to wear a black patch that became part of her persona. Then the film takes us on tour with Colvin as she goes to various war zones in the world to see how she covered these wars and how she uncovered her powerful stories.

What we learn is that she was fearless in action although she felt fear. She was incredibly rebellious against authority whether it be the publication she wrote for, or with the leaders she interviewed. Watch her poignant questions to Libya’s Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi, commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi. An outstanding scene.

Early on in her investigations she had difficulty finding a photographer that would work well with her. Then she happened on Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan) who became a wonderful companion and friend to Colvin.

As for Colvin’s personal life, we see early on her defensive, reactive nature towards her former husband and people really close to her. She allowed few to get close and preferred to be harsh and flippant to the people who cared about her. She drank heavily (“started drinking at age 15”), and suffered from PTSD. For a short time, she took up residence in a hospital to help her deal and process the horrible events she lived through.

What we don’t get a deep dive on is Marie’s background. I kept wondering why she was so rebellious and reckless with her own life. Not only did she put herself in positions where she could be killed, she smoked incessantly and drank excessively.

However, through all this self-destruction she was able to relate to mothers (although she didn’t have children herself), and families with deep compassion which came out in her writing.

Pike was fantastic. When, in the credits, we hear the real Colvin’s voice, we notice that Pike got her voice perfectly. Dornan was excellent as Colvin’s photographer. It’s nice to see him in a non-villain role. Tom Hollander (playing Sean Ryan) as Colvin’s foreign correspondent boss was excellent. It must have been difficult to manage someone who had such a strong will while looking out for his reporter's health and welfare. Stanley Tucci as Tony Shaw, Colvin’s late in life lover was strong as the guy who accepted Colvin as she was. Corey Johnson (as Norm Coburn) a photographer that was always first one in and last one out of a conflict was fantastic. Nikki Amuka-Bird as Colvin's closest friend Rita Williams was wonderful. She was frankly supportive of Colvin. Marie Brenner wrote a strong script allowing Matthew Heineman to deliver this complex story in an engaging and powerful way.

Overall: I wanted more background about Colvin, yet I was blown away by the depth of the story of her in war zones.

Fifty Shades of Freed

First Hit:  Although not a good film, it was a good way to conclude the series.

I, for the most part, painfully waded through this series of films telling the story of sex, control and asking questions to discover what love is.

In this final of the trilogy, Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) accepts Christian Grey’s (Jamie Dornan) proposal for marriage. Marrying shortly thereafter they settle into a life together and when there is a discussion about children, Christian balks and states that he’s not willing to discuss it now.

Although they bring up Grey’s past upbringing and his being adopted, if you didn’t see the prior films, you won’t really understand the impact of this and why he’s not willing to discuss children.

As an audience member, this plot device is obvious that this is what is going to separate the couple and then bring them back together. There are no surprises in this film or story.

They add elements from previous films including Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson) who was Anastasia’s boss until he tried to make an unwanted move on her. We’re led to believe that he really wants Anastasia but the film attempts to make it deeper by showing us that he and Grey were in the same foster home and he’s jealous of who Grey got adopted by.

The sex and bondage sex scenes were not erotic. This might be because, as I noticed in all three films and it is more pronounced here, there is virtually no chemistry between Dakota and Jamie. I was also put off by the obvious product placements, especially Audi.

Johnson is OK as Anastasia. Dornan is a poor actor. I simply cannot buy his character as someone real and there’s little in this film to tell me anything different. Eric Johnson is one of the better parts of the film as he’s sufficiently a bad man. Niall Leonard wrote an OK final film screenplay to this series. James Foley directed this final film with some great scenery and a fun car chase.

Overall: This is a weak storyline but it doesn’t make a mockery of the film series and lets it conclude with some integrity.

Fifty Shades Darker

First Hit:  Only at the very end did I sense/feel an actual connection between Anastasia and Christian, which told me that this film does not work.

There is a distance between Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) which might be reflective of “steel gray” or “gray steel”; they go together but one doesn’t necessarily mean the other and they aren’t necessarily connected.

Anyway, the set up of Grey isn't strong enough to make him realistic or believable. I didn't buy any of this characters strengths (smart and rich) and flaws (can’t touch his chest). This isn’t how one would act with his issues – it is too fabricated. However, the story wants us to believe that the superiorly damaged rich boy can’t have a relationship without out being sadist (his words not mine – “I’m not a dominate, I’m a sadist”).

One would think that this rich smart aware boy (and he’s more like a boy than a man) would seek out additional help to have him work through his maladjustment relationships with women. However, to make the film work, we are back for more of Steele’s naked body along with some submissive stuff and we're suppose to believe that she wants him, and wants to be the girl that saves him from himself.

This, of course, pisses off the woman who “taught him to fuck”, Elena Lincoln (Kim Basinger) and past submissive Leila (Bella Heathcote). In fact, the scenes with these two characters are supposed to be very telling, but that don’t really add up to much. When Leila gets on her knees when ordered by Grey, like a dog, it is pathetic for both. When Steele has one-on-ones with Lincoln, they don’t work and I never felt the feeling or intensity of a deep desire or love as required by the script. Both characters, mostly Grey, were lifeless.

Lastly, there isn’t enough information or interest about each of the characters to care much. There are attempts to flesh-out Steele, but they mostly fall flat as there isn’t enough depth to her. The only scene that was really strong was her confrontation with her boss Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson – no relation to Dakota) who is seen at the end of the film signaling at least one more “Shades” film to come.

Johnson was the best part of this overall very weak film. She didn’t add much depth, but any and all the depth in this film comes from her. Dornan is lifeless for the most part. He’s not believable and lands on me the same way that Robert Pattinson lands on me; blank, with little emotion, and little projection of a real fully fleshed character. Basinger is horrible in this film. It is like the producers are using her sexuality from the long past 9 ½ weeks film to validate Grey’s weirdness. Heathcote is OK as the spurned sexual dilettante. Eric Johnson is OK as the jerk boss who uses his authority to get his way with staff at the publishing company. Niall Leonard wrote an OK screenplay but it was director James Foley and the actors’ execution that made this film lifeless and hard to watch, until the last 10 minutes, which was actually fairly good.

Overall:  Don’t know if I’ll be able to stomach the next one in this series.

Anthropoid

First Hit:  This was a strong, well-presented, and interesting film about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich the architect of the holocaust.

The story follows a small group of men who parachute into Czechoslovakia with the goal of assassinating Reinhard Heydrich who had been sent to Czechoslovakia to ensure that the country supplies Germany with the war materials they expect.

There is a resistance movement in Prague which has been decimated by German soldiers publicly killing people who do not fall in line with German leader wishes. Heydrich had come up with the plan and process for killing all European Jews and was Hitler’s number 3 guy so he was Hitler's guy to get Czechoslovakia in line.

The film mainly follows two of the men, Jan Kubis and Josef Gabcik (Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy respectively) who parachuted into the republic, and find themselves in Prague being helped by the resistance led by Uncle Hajsky (Toby Jones). Both Jan and Josef are coupled with two women Marie Kovarnikova and Lenka Fafkova (Charlotte Le Bon and Anna Geislerova respectively) as a way to help them blend into Prague city life while they plan the assassination.

The film is graphic about the struggle and occasionally uses actual footage. The scene of the actual assassination was well staged in that it felt risky and real. The suspense was palpable.

The end scene with the battle in the church was very well done and very heroic in nature. Watching this film was like watching an important piece of history, which means the filmmakers did an excellent job of bringing this story to life.

Dornan was wonderful as the guy who struggled to pull the trigger but when the chips were down he was a reliable member of the team. His romance and connection with Marie was palpable. Murphy was fantastic and the driver of the mission. His ability to be strong, yet apologize for his focus, was truly heartfelt. Jones was really good as the main contact and leader of the underground. Le Bon was really good in the way she was supportive of the mission and her love for Kubis. Geislerova was truly amazing. Her strength of character shone through in this role. Sean Ellis and Anthony Frewin wrote a very strong script and Ellis’ direction was spot on.

Overall:  This was a truly interesting and well-acted film about a historical event.

50 Shades of Grey

First Hit:  This film was 50 shades of boredom.

I didn’t read the books and I make it a point to not read books that may turn into a film. The experiences are very different and in the world of comparing things, it is generally a no win situation - either the book is better or the movie is better.

What was wrong with this film? No character development. The attempt to develop Christian Grey's (Jamie Dornan) character has him sitting on the edge of Anastasia Steele's (Dakota Johnson) bed and saying that he was raised by a crack head while Anastasia sleeps.

This is not character development. Anastasia saying she was a virgin and that she loved her stepfather is not history. Both of these items say something about the characters, but it isn’t enough to help the audience understand why they act and respond the way they do.

As the film progresses neither character evolves. Additionally, we know nothing as to how Grey makes his money. He seems to work very little because there are only a couple scenes where you think he’s suppose to be working. What you see is him telling someone on the other end of the line that what they are saying is unacceptable and to fix it. Was there chemistry between these lovers? I could sense Johnson doing a better job than Dornan in showing something, but Grey was virtually a desire-less slug.

The worst thing about this film, was that after about 45 minutes to an hour, I was looking around and away from the screen because I was bored stiff. I couldn’t wait until it ended.

Johnson was best in the first 30 minutes of the film, but she didn’t evolve very well. The only sign of growth was the scene of her sitting and negotiating the contact with Grey. Dornan was about as exciting as a doornail. He seemed stilted, out of place and without any depth whatsoever. There were other actors in this film but when the main characters are dull and lifeless, it takes someone doing something extraordinary to have me acknowledge it. Nothing in this film stood out. Kelly Marcel wrote a tired and lifeless screen play. The direction by Sam Taylor-Johnson was worse than the screenplay and acting because he got nothing out of any of those things.

Overall:  Its funny that the first week out this film did phenomenal business and when we were in a very large theater a week after the opening, there were maybe a dozen people. It is falling fast and justly so.

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