The Aeronauts

First Hit: Although the ground scenes lack any conviction or interest, the up in the air scenes are amazingly shot and provide lots of tension.

Two things that surprised me while watching this film. One; how wonderful it was that Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) was the amazingly brave and daring character in this story. Two, the difference between the mediocre ground-based scenes and fantastic air-based scenes was almost too significant to make the whole film work.

In short, James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) was a scientist and part of The Royal Society, where the big thinkers of the day held court where they expound on grand ideas, philosophy and scientific postulates. Glaisher thought that he and others should be able to predict the weather if they had more information about the atmosphere and how it works. The society laughed at him.

To prove his point, he wanted to go up in a lighter than air balloon to take measurements. The person he asks is Wren, who is still mourning the loss of her husband, Pierre, who was also an aeronaut balloon pilot and took his life to save his wife’s during an ill-fated flight.

The film uses flashbacks throughout to show how Wren and Glaisher meet, and how they ended up in the first scene where Glaisher is impatiently waiting for Wren to show up to their launch site. Wren, on her way in a coach, is both scared and brave in her path to confront the feelings she’ll have been in a balloon for the first time since her husband’s death.

When she finally arrives at the launch site, she’s quite the showman and gives the broad audience, who is here to witness this event, lots of ways to enjoy the beginning of this balloon launch. These scenes include a small dog. It is an enjoyable part of the opening scenes.

However, it is after they take off that the real drama comes into play. Enough to say, it is not only the views they get while rising to a then-record of 38,000 feet (without oxygen) but it is what happens to the balloon and how Wren powerfully saves their lives by doing something I don’t think I would ever consider, even if my life depended on it.

These scenes are beyond tense, well shot, and exciting and it makes this film worth watching.

Lastly, one thing I wondered about through the entire film was what were they using for the lighter other than air gases? Because this wasn’t hot air they were using as there was no flame device to heat the air inside the balloon.

Jones is exceptional in this role. Her portrayal of the Amelia Wren as an Aeronaut and woman was first-rate. She also did an excellent job of showing her sadness and love towards her former husband while conquering fear by piloting the balloon. Redmayne was perfect as Glaisher, but for some reason, he was so overshadowed by Jones that he got lost in the film. When his character gives his talk at the Royal Society after his excursion with Wren, I thought that his pride in proving something felt egoic and small. It did show the smallness of humans whereas the big picture was carried by Wren. Hamish Patel was terrific as Glaisher’s friend and supporter. Tom Harper and Jack Thorne wrote a good screenplay, but it really came to life while in the air, and here is where Harper’s direction and filming made this worth watching.

Overall: Having been up in a hot air balloon, I can only imagine what they were going through as they passed through the higher reaches of the atmosphere where a man can survive without oxygen.

21 Bridges

First Hit: A solid, yet predictable, thriller about corrupt cops.

The set up for Detective Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) was robust. We are introduced to Davis attending a funeral. He’s a young boy, and he’s mourning his father’s death. His father was a cop and served with honor and was killed in the line of duty. There is also an early scene when Davis is being questioned by Internal Affairs because Davis has created a reputation for hunting down and killing cop killers.

With this setup, we follow two criminals Ray Jackson and Michael Trujillo (Taylor Kitsch and Stephan James respectively), breaking into an up-scale wine bar to steal thirty kilos of heroin. Finding three hundred kilos instead, they realize this could be trouble or a setup. Just as they begin to leave with fifty of the three hundred kilos, four cops appear at the front door and knock.

Not getting an answer, they break in the front and back because they find Ray and Michael’s getaway car running in the back alley. Michael and Ray are armed with automatic guns and start killing cops and the lone wine bar employee.

More cops come, and Michael and Ray kill them all. Michael is a sharpshooter and is ruthless in his picking off the police. The 85th Precinct Captain McKenna (J.K. Simmons), whose precinct where this crime is taking place, wants Davis on the case along with Drug Investigator Frankie Burns (Sienna Miller). Together, these two believe they’ve only got hours to find these cop killers or they will disappear into the civilian mass.

When the detectives find all the heroin still left in the freezer, Davis and Burns question why the cops were there and why their bosses’ story was that they came to break up a burglary. The crime scene doesn’t add up to a robbery of this type.

The FBI arrives and wants to take over the case, but Deputy Chief Spencer (Keith David) and Captain McKenna argue to let the NYPD handle it for the next few hours. If they don’t solve it in a few hours, the FBI will take over.

Setting up this urgency allows Davis the ability ask that all 21 Bridges to Manhattan Island be shut down, as well as all subway lines and trains. After doing this they start to “flood the island with blue” (cops).

At this point, the movie follows both Ray and Michael trying to evade the chasing cops, Burns and Davis. This cat and mouse game are well presented as the plot adds in new characters, the owner of the three hundred kilos, a money launderer, and the suspicion that something else is up.

Boseman is excellent as a detective that is focused on justice and the law. The final scenes with McKenna and Burns present a predictable conclusion. Miller is outstanding as the Drug Investigator who is really doing a balancing act. Simmons is sublime as a guy who believes he’s helping the department’s force with his actions. Kitsch is outstanding as the highly charged marksman of the criminal duo. James is a revelation in this role. He brings a perfect blend of viciousness and emotional heart to his character. His final few scenes clearly give the audience a man who is trying to find a way while honoring his brother’s impact on his life. Adam Mervis and Matthew Michael Carnahan wrote an excellent screenplay that encompassed well-choreographed action and intellectual endeavors. Brian Kirk did a fantastic job of bringing this story together and making it all feel believable.

Overall: This was a solid film, even though it was highly predictable.

Ford v Ferrari

First Hit: I love good car movies, and this one qualifies as one of the best.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a night showing of a film. In picking this evening time and this film, it was both pleasing and irritating to be in a nearly full theater. The fun part is that I often see films where there are less than 15 people in the theater, and seeing an almost full theater gave me hope that others will continue to support going to movie theaters.

The irritation part is the noise that people make during the film presentation. Why someone thinks their remembrances of the period, or what they think about what they’re seeing on the screen is essential to spout out while the film is playing, is beyond me. The gentleman sitting next to me turned around just as I did the same thing and together we asked them to be quiet. It took us doing this twice for them to get that they weren’t at home watching cable TV.

Despite the noise interruptions, this film unfolded in a fun way. Remembrances of the 1960s abounded with cars from the era on the streets. Yes, they were perfectly restored vehicles, but it was easy to gloss over the prettiness to enjoy the beauty of those old cars reflecting their time and place in my life. There were Shelby Cobras, Porsches, Ford Falcons, a Mini, a woody (fake wood) wagon, Ferraris, and Ford GT 40s.

The film is about how Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) turned down Henry Ford II’s (Tracy Letts) offer to buy 90% of Ferrari’s car production company. While turning down Ford’s offer and partnering with Fiat, Enzo made unflattering remarks about Ford and his cars to the Ford negotiation team. Angered by the personal comments, Ford vowed to beat perennial 24 Hours Le Mans race winner, Ferrari.

Chief Ford negotiator, Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal), was then tasked with finding a car builder who will build a Ford-based car to beat Ferrari. Finding Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), the one-time winning driver of the 24 Le Mans, to make the car, Ford believes they found their man. Henry Ford gives Shelby carte blanche to build this car.

Shelby, in turn, hires his friend and race car driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale), to be his test driver and co-builder. The main reason is that he can trust Miles as he knows cars and feels their abilities and problems as he drives them. Miles is also creative when figuring out how to make cars work better. The downside of Miles is that he’s a maverick in his thinking and hates to conform to rules and being told what to do.

Miles is married Mollie (Caitriona Balfe), who’s amused by her husband’s friendship with Shelby and there are couple scenes that this loving amusement shows up. One such scene is when Shelby and Ken fight near the miles home. Mollie bringing out a folding chair to watch the frecus was hilarious. One thing the film makes clear is that Ken is a loving devoted father who loved showing his son Peter (Noah Jupe) the ins and outs of racing.

The film spends time showing Miles and Shelby developing the GT40 to race in Le Mans, but when it comes time to ship the car off to the race, Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas) Senior VP at Ford, chooses another driver to drive the vehicle at the Le Mans race.

Shelby is pissed, Miles is severely disappointed, and of course, the new driver doesn’t feel the car like Miles would have and ends up blowing it apart during the race.

Ford wants to fire Shelby for the failure, but the meeting between Ford and Shelby is fantastic because Shelby convinces Ford that he, Ford, has Ferrari where he wants him, scared. Scared because Shelby’s car, with another driver, was faster than the Ferrari, especially on the straightaway at Le Mans. This was a great scene. It’s reflecting Shelby’s legendary ability to sell anyone on anything.

Ford tells Shelby to fix the car and get it ready for the next Le Mans and that Shelby has control over the driver.

The rest of the movie shows how they develop a stronger, lighter, faster GT40 car. But when Beebe intercedes again about Miles being the driver at Le Mans, Shelby takes Ford out in the GT40 and scares the crap out of him, literally, and at that moment negotiates with Ford to let Miles drive. As part of the deal he offers Ford his Shelby American company if Miles races and loses.

It’s scenes like this that are fun to watch and reminded me of the time that a friend of a friend, gave me a ride in a Lamborghini Miura, and scared the crap out of me while racing around a sizeable empty factory parking lot at a very high speed.

There were sections of this 152-minute film that could have been trimmed, but I was engaged enough to not care about the lulls of uninteresting or engaging material. Other characters added to this story and made better. One such person was Chief Mechanic Phil Remington (Ray McKinnon). His ideas about creating a way to change the brake assembly were brilliant.

Bale was intensely and independently outstanding in this role as race car driver Ken Miles. HIs ability to show tenderness and love towards his family while being aggressively focused on making the car faster was terrific. Damon was wonderful as Carroll Shelby. The scene with Ford after the first loss and his fight with Miles in front of Mile’s home reflected the off-told stories about the legend of Carroll Shelby. Bernthal was good as the famed Iacocca. Balfe was convincing as Ken’s wife. Her support and understanding of her husband were excellently portrayed. My favorite scene shows Balfe driving Ken home while pressing him on his whereabouts. Her focused intensity was sublime. Letts was priceless as Ford II. The bullying way he used around his staff and factory followed by his being humbled by the spin in the GT40 was fun to watch. McKinnon was excellent as devoted Chief Mechanic for Shelby. Beebe was appropriately arrogant, self-serving, and sharp as a foil to Shelby’s vision. Girone was satisfyingly perfect as Enzo Ferrari. Jez and John-Henry Butterworth wrote an expansive script that could have been shortened and made crisper. However, there are some outstanding scenes in the film. James Mangold directed this film. Racing scenes can get old quick, and Mangolds transcends the genre with excellent editing and cinematography, which make the racing scenes in this film come alive.

Overall: I liked seeing this film for multiple reasons, including that the subsequent Ford built Shelby Mustang GT-350 and GT-500 had parts made by my father’s company in the late 1960s.

Midway

First Hit: Besides being too long, I didn’t like and couldn’t engage with the main character Dick Best (Ed Skrein).

As portrayed here, Best was a pilot who liked breaking the rules, thought highly of himself and his flying skills, but eventually, his arrogance, depicted as bravery, helped to win the war over Japan at Midway.

I don’t know what it was, but if another actor played Best, I might have better related with this character. Actors, from another time, who might have made this role work are Steve McQueen or Paul Newman. These guys had a way of being edgy and arrogant but likable.

There are other issues with this film that stood out as well. There were sections that were supposed to provide a depth to the story but seemed needless. Additionally, the strategic planning of the attack on Midway became muddled.

On a positive note, many of the action scenes were well choreographed and very exciting to watch.

This film is about how the battle of Midway became the turning point of the Pacific War between the United States and Japan. Early on, we see Pearl Harbor being bombed. This was particularly effective and was well depicted with the surprise and the panic that set in after the attack.

The US goal was to hit back at Japan in a way that would have them rethink their choice to attack the United States.

The key players in this story are Best, Lieutenant Commander Edwin T. Layton (Patrick Wilson), who was an intelligence officer, and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (Woody Harrelson). Layton had developed data, with a team of intelligence analysts, that gave him a hunch that the Pearl Harbor attack was coming. Nimitz had heard about Layton’s ideas and after his assignment to head the Pacific Fleet, he told Layton to bring him information that would allow his decimated fleet to execute a surprise counterattack.

Midway was that surprise attack. In addition to this story, there were side stories. One was about Vice Admiral William “Bull” Halsey (Dennis Quaid), who was the on-boat commander of the aircraft carrier leading the fleet. He had a horrible case of shingles, which eventually put him out of commission. There was also a story about Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart) who first bombed Japan, and because the way the mission worked out, he and his entire squadron had to ditch their planes because they ran out of fuel.

There are also sweet scenes with Best and his wife Anne (Mandy Moore), one of the few who understood and embraced her husband’s erratic intensity. There are also depictions of Japanese ship commanders and Admirals, which are brief and attempt to show the ignorance of and blind devotion to the war effort as commanded by their emperor.

Skrein was not likable as Best. What I don’t know was it Skrein or his character I didn’t like or want to champion. Eckart, in the bombing of Japan side story, was solid as Doolittle. Wilson was excellent as the intelligence officer Layton. The scene where he is pressed for the details on the theory of a Midway attack by the Japanese was powerful. Harrelson gave a strong performance as Nimitz. His belief in his team, especially Layton, was well executed. Quaid was good as Halsey, a “bull” of a man. Moore was excellent as the trusting and understanding wife of the film’s wildcard character. Wes Tooke wrote a meandering script that seemed to take in too many stories. Roland Emmerich had an excellent eye for many of the action scenes, but the story seemed to take too large a bite.

Overall: Because I couldn’t get into the main character, the film fell flat.

Harriet

First Hit: Definitely an Oscar-contending performance by Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman.

Before she took the name Harriet, she was called Minty. The film opens with Minty as a married slave working for the Brodess family. Her husband, John Tubman (Zachary Momoh), is a free man working for another landowner. She sees him infrequently, and they steal hugs and kisses on rare occasions.

Minty’s mother works for the Brodess family as well as does her sister and other members of her family. Her father works for another family, just like John works for another family.

After the patriarch Edward Brodess dies, the son, Gideon (Joe Alwyn), takes over and ensures that he makes Minty’s life harder.

Minty and her husband had a lawyer to get a judge to write a document allowing her to be free and to leave the Brodess farm and start a family with her husband. The Brodess family rips up the letter and forbids John from coming around to see Minty ever again.

Minty cannot stand it and tells John to meet her by a fence gate, and they’ll run away together. However, she’s afraid that it will hurt John’s freedom, so she heads out alone to find freedom in Philadelphia, PA, and leaving him behind.

Her journey is horrendous, but she trusts in her faith in God and the visions that overwhelm her along the way. In the visions she sees the dangers that are coming her way and makes decisions about what to do next. The images are presented as flashes and in a dream-like sequence and sometimes I didn’t interpret or understand them like Minty did, but her actions gave the audience a clear understanding of her visions.

She gets to Philadelphia and finds her way to William Sill’s (Leslie Odom Jr.) printing business. Sill leads an organization that helps people escape slavery through the underground railroad. Sill is also documenting each slave’s story by interviewing them. One of the things Sill does when he talks with the slaves is to allow them to select a name for themselves, which he documents. This allows the new arrivals to be rid of their slave names. Minty decides on “Harriet” in honor of her mother and “Tubman” because that is her husband’s name.

Harriet is barely five-feet tall, but she becomes a giant in the underground railroad because, against all the odds, she goes back to Maryland multiple times and frees more slaves on each trip. She leads them through the wilderness and to Philadelphia.

Not only is she the most prolific of the conductors of the underground railroad, but she also becomes a leader of soldiers for the Union Army and frees over 190 more slaves in battles against the Confederate Army.

Not only did I learn a lot more about Harriet in this film, I left the film amazed that she didn’t get more print space in my middle and high school history books.

The film felt very formulaic, and some of the early scenes felt very staged. This is where the film struggles. However, once I let go of these staged scenes, and just rode within Harriet’s story through Harriet, it worked very well.

When it comes to putting her picture on the new upcoming $20 bill, she deserves it, and it can’t come soon enough. She’s a hero of the people.

Erivio was absolutely sublime as Harriet. This performance is of Academy Award caliber, as is the story. Odom Jr. is excellent as one of the leaders who coordinates the underground railroad. Alwyn is strong in this unenviable role as slave owner. Momoh was very good as Harriet’s husband, and the scene when she comes back for him is devastating for both. Janelle Monae, as boarding house proprietor Marie Buchanon was terrific. Her support of Harriet was unending and undying. Kasi Lemmons wrote a strong screenplay. Gregory Allen Howard directed this film. There were times the scenes were strong, but there were also scenes that felt too staged.

Overall: Despite the film’s unevenness, Harriet’s life as developed here was one of embodied strength.