Richard Jewell

First Hit: Outstanding film and portrayal of a man who went through hell because of the FBI and the malfeasance of a newspaper reporter.

I so bought into Richard Jewell’s character as portrayed by Paul Walter Hauser. He was terrific and gave me a real sense of a man who really tried hard to follow the rule of law and be someone people could count on to protect them.

This is based on a true story about Richard Jewell, who was pretty much a loner, lived with his mother Bobi (Kathy Bates), and wanted to be part of the law enforcement community all his life.

When we first engage with Jewell, he’s a supply clerk in a company and we see that he is thoughtful and careful about his work. We are shown this as he overhears a loud, aggressive telephone conversation by Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell) and a client of the company they work for.

Apologizing for overhearing the conversation (there’s no way he couldn’t hear), he tells Watson to look in a drawer because Jewell has filled it with the pens Watson uses in his work. Also, asking Bryant to open another drawer, it is filled with Snickers candy bars, the snack food Bryant eats when stressed.

Through this interchange, they become acquaintances and chat from time to time. One day Jewell gets a job offer to be a security guard at a local college campus. Jewell’s goodbye to Bryant is very sweet. Bryant, caught off guard, gives him a $100 bill in case he might need anything during the transition between jobs. Jewell is touched, and for him, their friendship is now rock-solid.

At his new job, he has a run-in with some students who are breaking campus rules and he gets fired for this and because he’s overstepping his bounds by stopping cars on the highway near the campus looking for drugs.

These things highlight a couple of things about Jewell. He believes in following the rules, and he can and will step outside the bounds of his authority.

Jewell finally gets a security guard job at AT&T’s events at Centennial Park which are part of the celebrations for the 1996 Atlanta, GA Olympics. His thoughtfulness and kindness are highlighted here, as well. He provides water or Coca Cola to pregnant women so that they do not become dehydrated, and he also supplies the lighting and filming crew in the nearby tower with food or other things they need. He wants to be helpful.

He’s also looking for suspicious items and people. When he discovers a backpack that has been left under a bench where he was sitting, he tells the police. The police team brings in some experts and they realize it is a bomb. While moving the crowd back, the bomb explodes, and two people are killed, and many others are injured.

At first, he’s seen as a hero and is on television. He’s proud of his work, and his mother is especially pleased because her favorite newscaster, Tom Brokaw, spoke glowingly about her son.

FBI Agent Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm) was also stationed at the park and is disappointed that he was stationed there, and even worse, something happened on his watch, and he didn’t prevent it. After interviewing Jewell’s past records and after meeting with the college who fired Jewell, Richard becomes a suspect. What does Jewell do when he realizes the FBI is considering him a suspect? He calls Bryant.

Local newspaper columnist Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde), who only wants to make a name for herself, uses her sexuality towards Shaw to extract this FBI probe about Jewell. She writes an unconfirmed expose front-page article in the newspaper, and in a New York minute, it jumps up to become national headlines.

Now Jewell is seen as the vilified criminal, not the hero, all in a span of about a week.

The film then tells the story of how his friendship with Bryant and the undying support of his mom, and longtime friend Brandon Walker (Mike Pniewski) help him through the onslaught of the rush-to-judgment people – the FBI and Media.

I did find it interesting that this film has come out when both the FBI and the Media are under a public spotlight and scrutiny.

Hauser needs to receive an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Jewell. He was terrific in bringing this confused, caring man to life. His sincerity, thoughtfulness, and helpfulness (even at the wrong times) are excellently portrayed. Rockwell gives yet another robust and stunning performance as Jewell’s friend and attorney. His sarcasm and pointed jabs at the FBI’s flawed work were excellent. Hamm was good, but it would be nice to see him in a role where drinking and sex are not his only motivation. Wilde was all over the place and enjoyable as Scruggs, who clearly had only one thing on her mind, fame. Bates was terrific as Jewell’s mother. Her demonstration of faith in her son and that he wasn’t who people were making him out to be, was sublime. Nina Arlanda, as Watson Bryant’s office manager and friend, Nadya Light, brought a beautiful blend of humor and persistence to Bryant’s actions. Billy Ray wrote an outstanding screenplay that was crisp and painted each character entirely. Clint Eastwood did an excellent job of directing this story. He is usually efficient in telling stories and here he stepped it up a notch.

Overall: This was a wonderfully entertaining film and brought to life a story I read about some twenty-three years ago.

Lucy in the Sky

First Hit: Lackluster and non-cohesive, the story had potential, but distractions and character jolts didn’t work.

First off, when the actual picture on the screen kept changing the size, I thought, oh, we have a projection problem. Then I realized that the shifting from letterbox, to full screen, to square in the middle, square on each side of the screen, and wavy vertical edges was all part of the tricks Director Noah Hawley used to create the physical feeling of Astronaut Lucy Cola (Natalie Portman) was having because she felt disjointed and separate from world after having traveled in outer space.

This is based on a true story about how Lucy got caught up in the ethereal feeling of being back on earth after having floated out in space for two weeks. It's about how she struggled to get grounded after the experience and what happens when she loses focus.

This version shows Lucy slipping in and out of states of quiet estrangement from the world around her. At one moment she’s speaking with her husband Drew (Dan Stevens) in a usual kind of conversation and the next moment she’s got this dreamy, faraway look in her eyes all the while the picture format of the film is changing, sometimes abruptly other times in a smooth wiping fashion.

We learn about Lucy’s background by Lucy’s visits with her grandmother Nana (Ellen Burstyn). Nana is strict and expects Lucy to be tough, not like her flaky brother, who cannot sit still long enough to raise his daughter Blue Iris (Pearl Amanda Dickson).

Blue comes to stay with Drew and Lucy from time to time because it is the only stability and family she has. Her sadness and estrangement from her father are shown in one poignant scene when, after receiving a phone call from her dad, she goes into her room. She turns up the music loud and sits sulks on the floor. There are bits of scattered paper all round. Lucy goes in and reaches out to Blue and holds her, gives her space to try to put her life in perspective. The irony, of course, is that Lucy’s life is out of control, and she doesn’t know it, and she’s consoling Blue, whose life is shattered.

Hoping to get back into space and have that sense of wonder and feeling all of life distantly, she begins working, studying, and training hard to be selected for the next mission. However, she’s missing appointments with a NASA psychologist and starts acting on impulses that are generally foreign for her.

One such impulse is to begin an affair with fellow astronaut Mark Goodwin (Jon Hamm). Another is bowling with a select group of others who’ve been in space as her. Together they are an elite club and talk around the edges of their inner experience of being in outer space.

Lucy is competitive and never loses, so when her fellow female astronaut Erin Eccles (Zazie Beetz) and who is competing with her for a seat on the next ride to space, sets a record for one of the tests, she’s determined to beat it. However, there is a mishap, and this is when she obviously starts to spin out of control.

When she isn’t selected to be part of the next team to space and is told to take some time off, she flips an internal switch and sets out to right all the wrongs she thinks are being done to her by NASA and Goodwin.

As I mentioned above, I thought the shifting screen size projections were distracting and seemed like it was being used as a device to make us understand the character better. It doesn’t happen in real life like this, so the technique only set me farther away from the story.

I also felt like the shifts made by Lucy were a bit inconsistent. However, her intensity of tracking down Mark and Erin in San Diego was fantastic. Watch her bark out orders to Blue like a head sergeant.

Portman, at times, was fantastic. There’s a scene where we see just her face, and she smiles briefly, gives a look of being lost in a train of thought, then smiles and on and on was Portman at her best. However, the script or direction had her inconsistent in such a way that the character was difficult to understand, so overall it was one of her worst roles. Hamm did nothing new from his character in “Mad Men,” he drank to excess and screwed everyone. I would like to see if he can do something else. Beetz was excellent as rival astronaut Eccles. Stevens was outstanding as Lucy’s husband who always looked at the bright side of things. He was known at NASA as ever having a smile. Dickson was reliable as the lost girl who was looking for guidance and stability in her life. Burstyn was fantastic and one of the best parts of the film as the crusty hardened grandmother to Lucy. Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi wrote this story with revisions by both of them and Director Hawley. I’m not sure the story worked, but it was the direction by Hawley that led this film astray. The direction issues began with the projection of different screen sizes in attempts to create a physical experience of Lucy’s adjustment issues. They were a distraction.

Overall: This was a weak attempt to tell this story.

Bad Times at the El Royale

First Hit: An oddly strange, yet engaging, film.

The El Royale is a hotel that is split down the middle between the Nevada and California borders. There is a red line that runs through the parking lot and through the middle of the lobby with some rooms in Nevada and the remaining rooms in California. The rooms in California are more expensive because they’re in California.

Father Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges) arrives just as Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Erivo) is parking her car. He introduces himself and assists her carrying two very large blanket covered foam rolls into the lobby.

In the lobby we have Laramie Seymour Sullivan (Jon Hamm) waiting for someone to come to the front desk so that he can check in. The three of them make some light chatter until Darlene bangs on a door and out comes Miles Miller (Lewis Pullman) who is the desk clerk and appearing to be the only hotel employee.

They each select a room. In the rooms each person does something that tells you why they’re at the El Royale. Sullivan is removing bugs previously planted there by the FBI. Flynn is really a bank robber from years ago and his partner brother stashed a bag full of money under the floor of a room. Sweet is there with foam to cover the walls so she can practice singing before heading to Reno for a gig. And Miller? He's a junkie.

The El Royale has a single access hallway behind all the rooms. Miller can view and listen in to each room from this hallway. For sound there is a switch under a one-way mirror that is in each room. There is a camera and we learn that Miller used this camera to film people for blackmail purposes.

However, Sullivan learns of this secret hallway and watches, through the one-way mirror, as Emily Summerspring (Dakota Johnson) checks into one of the rooms dragging her sister Rose (Cailee Spaeny). Tying her sister up in a chair, he’s puzzled.

Rose gets away and calls her cult leader boyfriend Billy Lee (Chris Hemsworth) who is a Charles Manson like leader that pontificates what he believes to be the truth. He drives up to collect Rose and find out why Emily kidnapped his prize pupil.

With all seven players engage, the story is about how everyone learns about each other’s reason for being at the El Royale.

Bridges is good as Father Flynn. However, the voice he uses is much like the voice he used for Hell or High Water. It’s sort of a gruff slurring voice that isn’t pleasing at all. Hamm is, at times, hilarious playing up the role as traveling salesman. Pullman is wonderful as the only hotel employee who is looking for absolution for the horrible things he’s done in life. Erivo is fantastic as the singer who is also clearly on her path with purpose. She suffers no fools and I enjoyed her singing – a lot. Hemsworth was strong as the cult leader who felt empowered by his good looks and charisma. Johnson was excellent as the protective sister who wanted to steer Rose away from Billy Lee’s clutches. Spaeny was excellent as the younger sister caught up in Billy Lee’s belief system and his good looks. Drew Goddard wrote and directed this film. His story was oddly interesting and engaging and use of 1960’s music was sublime.

Overall: It was interesting how the disparate reasons for each person in this ensemble  to be at the El Royale worked into a single storyline.

Tag

First Hit: Funny moments but it also felt like it was pressing for the laughs.

At the end of the film there’s shot of an old Wall Street Journal article showing about 10 men who were the subject of a story about a group of guys keeping a game of tag going for many years. This was the premise and storyline for this film.

The idea of a group of guys playing the game of tag into their 30’s and 40’s has a nice ring to it. It is easy to see that this game, which the group started playing when they were young boys, is a way for them to stay connected to each other.

The film touches on this, but sometimes, a bit too cavalierly and tries to go for the laugh and not a deeper story. My sense was that this game between these men, besides being fun, grounded them in their roots and where they came from. Having just gone to my 50th high school reunion, it was interesting to hear stories of my old class mates and what their path had been. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to keep two friendships together for over 55 years, and it’s been nice to connect with them every few months and to have been part of their lives.

Here we have Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy (Ed Helms), Reggie (LilRei Howery), Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm), Randy “Chilli” Cillano (Jake Johnson), and Jerry Pierce (Jeremy Renner) as five friends who have played tag together since they were young boys. As they got older, they set aside the month of May as tag month. Anytime during this month, the person who is “it”, can and will find one of the other guys and tag him. At the end of the month, the game ends for another eleven months.

The hook this film uses was that Jerry had never been tagged. Somehow, for more than twenty years, he’s been able to avoid being “it.” Hoagie learns that Jerry is getting married in May and thinks this will be the opportune time to tag him. He rounds up the rest of the gang to plot this once in a lifetime score.

The opening scene has Hoagie getting hired as a janitor in Bob’s company, so that he can surprise Bob, tag him, and then enlist him in the effort to get Jerry. This is how the storyline gets the Wall Street Journal involved because at the time Hoagie tags Bob, he’s being interviewed by Rebecca Crosby (Annabelle Wallis) who is a journalist interviewing Bob about his company.

There are funny scenes as this small group join forces to get Jerry, but the over the top performance goes to Anna Malloy (Isla Fisher), Hoagie’s wife. She is intense and focused to help Hoagie’s dream come true, getting Jerry. There is a reason for this and you’ll have to see the film to know why.

Helms is good as the guy who instigates the plan to get Jerry tagged. Howery was strong as one of the members who had his own way of participating. Hamm was very good as the successful business professional who sets aside his business for the sake of the game. Johnson’s role was a little off for me. I didn’t see the reason to have someone whose ideal life was being high on pot as a good plot device. Renner was excellent as Jerry. His intense and intelligent actions were good for this story. Wallis was OK as the Wall Street Journal reporter following the story. Fisher was perfect as the over the top wife willing to make the game happen for her husband and herself. Rob McKittrick and Mark Stellen wrote an OK screenplay, although I think it needed to not focus on generating a laugh. It could have been funny without resorting to physical site gags. Jeff Tomsic directed this film and would have done better to redirect the emphasis towards the friendship between these men.

Overall: I enjoyed the film but would  have rather had a more engaged full story.

Beirut

First Hit:  I really liked the way this film was put together and came to fruition.

Some people don’t like Tony Gilroy films because he doesn’t lead the story with obviousness. The script for Beirut is the same way. However, I like his films (the Bourne films, Duplicity, Michael Clayton to name a few) for this very reason. Viewers go on a ride and must trust the storyteller and director to bring the film home satisfyingly.

In this film, there are two different time periods. The first one is the 1970’s and Beirut is a melting pot of people and religions. It opens with Mason Skiles (Jon Hamm) hosting a party in his Beirut home. As part of the US Government, there is a senator and other diplomats present. A young boy named Karim has been partially adopted by Mason and his wife.

Government agents come to collect Karim because his notorious radical brother Jassim/Rami (Ben Affan) is loose and they hope to use Karim to capture him. In the battle, Government plan goes bad, Mason’s wife is killed, and Karim is taken by Islamic radicals. The film then moves forward ten years.

Mason is a drunk, back in the United States, and mediating union/management negotiations. Sandy Crowder (Rosamund Pike) comes to collect Mason because Cal Riley (Mark Pellegrino) has been abducted by a Islamic group and there’s been a request for Mason to negotiate his release.

Mason reluctantly goes back to Beirut and the flood of feelings come back from his time there some ten years earlier.

The negotiations are tough and there are many people, even in the US Government, who have different agendas with this issue. In essence, it is now Karim (Idir Chender) who is negotiating for his brother’s release and they're using Cal as the bait.

The way the films shows the 70’s was perfect. I loved the detail used. Everything from the hair styles to the sideburns on Mason. The film quality also reflected the time, with the tint and style. I loved the way the audience falls into the story and isn’t given large hints or steps that telegraph the film’s direction.

Hamm was fantastic. His portrayal of the caring loving husband and then to the drunk who cares and doesn’t care is phenomenal. Affan was strong in this minimal role. Chender was excellent as the older version of Karim. Pellegrino was very strong as the kidnapped US Government service representative. Pike was excellent as the tough, thoughtful, and daringly intelligent agent. Tony Gilroy wrote an outstanding script. I loved how it slowly comes together in the end. Brad Anderson did a wonderful job of making this script come alive.

Overall: This was an excellent film and expressed the complications of the middle east quite well.