Green Book

First Hit: Excellent acting, engaging story, and both funny and thought-provoking make this film fun to sit through.

The story starts out having to show the ability of Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen) to manipulate a situation to his benefit and then his questionable racist views. The first by absconding a hat of a big time crime boss and the other putting glasses in his kitchen trash can after being used by two African American plumbers after fixing his sink.

The first event closes the Copacabana Club because of destruction caused the by hat owner where Tony works as a bouncer. This leads to his unemployment. Weighing a job option from the hat owner because he finds the missing hat (the one he stole) or a possible job driving for Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), who is “not a real doctor” but a three-time Ph.D. in music and related areas.

As a driver for Dr. Shirley, he’d be driving him to concerts throughout the south. As a sophisticated classically trained black musician in the 1960’s, he will not be well received by some of the people they may run into during the tour. Tony sees this as an opportunity to make good money and he knows Dr. Shirley will need protection. The “Green Book” is giving to Tony and lists African American friendly hotels and restaurants in the south to help his navigate the south.

The film really defines the differences between these two men and the deep truth they both believe about how people need to be treated. During the film their friendship unfolds in glorious ways; during the long drives, over meals, and over drinks. To watch each, unpeel their veneers and support each other during the tribulations each finds themselves in was truly engaging.

The letters Tony writes, as dictated by Dr. Shirley, to his wife Delores (Linda Cardellini) are both funny and sweet. The ending scene when Dr. Shirley meets Delores was perfect.

What stood out for me was the ways each of the characters learned and grew from their relationship during this trip. In true life they stayed close friends for the rest of their lives and died within months of each other.

Mortensen was phenomenal as Tony Lip. Yes, his accent slightly changed during some of the scenes, but his spirit and acting made this small error a non-issue. He was great and may be up for an award during awards season. Ali was no less phenomenal than Mortensen. The ability to capture his character's schooling and skills in a character in such a reserved, yet engaging way, was sublime. Cardellini was wonderful as Tony’s wife who shared her husband with Dr. Shirley. Nick Vallelonga and Brian Hayes Currie wrote an outstanding script. The dialog between Tony and Dr. Shirley was filled with quips and a subtle unfolding of two very different people to each other. Very well done. Peter Farrelly did a wonderful job of setting up scenes and sets that reflect the time and era of the 1960’s.

Overall: This was a very entertaining and thoughtful film filled with moments of sadness and joy.

Boy Erased

First Hit: Outstanding cast delivers sublime performances in a powerful story about LGBT conversion programs.

Gay and lesbian conversion programs exist, and the number shown at the end of the film, astounded me. In this day in age, church supported Christian conversion programs believe they can change someone’s sexual preference by indoctrinating people in the “way of the lord.”

Here, we have Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges) heading off to college with the support of his homemaker mother Nancy (Nicole Kidman) and his father Marshall (Russell Crowe), a local church pastor and car dealership owner. With Marshall being a Baptist pastor he firmly believes that LGBT people are an abomination of the bible and his beliefs.

During high school Jared has a girlfriend Chole (Madelyn Cline) who would like Jared to be more sexually adventurous, but he is hesitant. This is the only indication that the audience really has that Jared is gay. During college he meets Henry (Joe Alwyn) who lives in the same dorm building as him. They become running buddies until one evening after playing video games, Henry tries to rape and sodomize Jared. It gets interrupted by a neighbor pounding on the shared wall, and Henry breaks down and pleads with Jared to not tell anyone about this event.

When the school calls home and tells Nancy and Marshall about this event at school, Jared, at first, says it’s not true. Marshall calls in his preacher friends and they decide as a group to send Jared to a bible-based conversion program to help Jared get the devil out of him and straighten him out. Going to the program the audience immediately sees how horrible it is.

The rules, the belief that bible loving men with no real training in psychology, can fix the gay problem with moral inventories, confessions, and intimidation is astoundingly ignorant of the truth. As Jared begins his moral inventory, he writes down the name Henry, crosses it out and writes down Xavier (Theodore Pellerin). The film wonderfully shows how Jared and Xavier met and what it meant to Jared.

When the pressure to state that Jared hates his father in front of the others gets to be too much, Jared gets up and leaves the room. He knows about the mistreatment of the others in the program. Stating he’s going to leave the program, the team running the program try to stop him. I loved how Cameron (Britton Sear), one of the other boys trying to be converted, stands up for Jared and helps him escape.

The scenes when Nancy decides and states she can no longer support Jared’s conversion program with Jared and Marshall were brilliantly presented.

Hedges was extraordinary in this role. His ability to create depth of character and keep the audience wondering what he’s thinking was amazing. Kidman was perfect. She was a follower until, it came down to the survival and happiness of her child. You believed her when she states her total support for Jared. Crowe was excellent as the preacher father who realizes in the end, it’s him that must change. Joel Edgerton (playing Victor Sykes) the chief therapist at the conversion center was excellent. He effectively gives the audience a taste of misguided beliefs. Flea does a great job playing Brandon, a converted and sober co-therapist. Alwyn was dynamite as the gay college student that couldn't stop himself. Pellerin is excellent as the sensitive man who holds Jared’s hand all night. Sear was amazing as the young high school football player who is severely punished in-front of the other attendees. Jesse LaTourette as one of the girls in the program was stunning in a mostly non-verbal role. Joel Edgerton did a wonderful job with both script and direction. Granted he has amazing actors at his mercy but it takes a great story and direction to make it work this well.

Overall: I left the theater saddened to know that so many of the conversion centers still exist because it is a reminder of religious ignorance.

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.

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Hit: Accurate or not, this film was fun, well-acted, engaging, and joyful.

Like many, I liked and enjoyed much of Queen’s music. The song Bohemian Rhapsody was one of those songs that broke new ground and confounded music executives. The development of having the audience be the music by stomping twice and clapping once in “We Will Rock You,” was brilliant. It became part of their anthem. And finally, “We Are the Champions” is a song that continues to be used world-wide by sports teams as well as lots of other groups.

This film’s focus is on Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek). Born with four extra incisors, his teeth gave him a unique look. His family’s religion, Zoroaster, gave him a homelife that was restrictive and eventually he changed his name from Farrokh Bulsara to Freddy Mercury to help him distance himself from his family and background.

The scenes when the band is figuring out songs together spoke a lot about how they co-created their music. They were misfits together as a group, and they claimed that much of their audience were the misfits in the world.

Freddie grew up confused about his sexual orientation. He did fall in love with Mary Austin (Lucy Boyton) who became his wife, ex-wife, lifelong friend, and supporter. It was with Mary that you could see Freddie relax and not need be “on.”

What made this film work was the music and how the band was always there for the music.

Although, there are misrepresentations in this film about Freddie, when he contracted AIDs, that wasn’t the point, it was about how this group of men worked together to create music together. It was about how Freddie represented Queen as their front man, and that they were a team of musicians.

Malek was sublime as Mercury. Although he didn’t actually sing any of the songs, he lip-synced perfectly while capturing the grandiose way Mercury was the front man for Queen. Boynton was excellent as Mercury’s female love. Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, and Joseph Mazzello were extraordinary as Queen band members Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon respectively. Anthony McCarten and Peter Morgan wrote a wonderful story. Bryan Singer made this story come alive, but I’ve got to say, the music is the star right behind Malek.

Overall: Thoroughly enjoyed the power of Queen’s music and to add great acting by Malek and the band helped even more.

Can You Ever Forgive Me

First Hit: Excellent acting about a caustic, friendless author that finally finds her voice.

Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy) is a biographer who is fixated on writing Fanny Brice biographies. She appeared once on the NYT Best Seller list but that was years ago. Her Agent tells her she’s got to change, but Lee, an obsessive alcoholic, likes her alienating way of living.

Then Lee loses her late-night editing job because she drinks and swears at her co-workers. Broke, with a sick cat, and behind in her rent she stumbles across an envelope with a typed and signed letter from a famous deceased author. She takes this letter to a book and artifact seller who gives her a few hundred dollars.

Realizing that she could sell forge letters with old typewriters and seasoned paper, she begins a quest of creating letters, signing them, and selling them to collectors and people who sell to collectors.

She befriends Jack Hock (Richard E. Grant) who is a homeless gay man at a bar who is also a drunk. Together the conspire to make and sell lots of these fake letters. Enjoying the fruits of their labor they eat well and Israel gets her old cat healed. Anna (Dolly Wells), one of the buyers of Lee’s fake letter, likes Lee and suggests they have dinner together. Sensing that Anna wants to get close, Lee blows her off but not before she accepts one of Anna’s short stories Anna would like feedback on.

This points out one of the incomplete and unsatisfying parts of the film. The film shows Lee reading this short story but never getting back to Anna. Another aspect of the story I would have liked more visibility into was why was Israel so cold, mean, and alienating towards people.

The forgeries are found out and the FBI is now after Lee. Getting caught through another one of Hock’s blunders, they create a plan to steal real letters and replace the real letters with her fakes.

As one imagines, she gets caught and is told to make restitution for her crimes. The result she now has something to write about and this story is the result.

McCarthy is sublime as Israel. She made this unlikeable character engaging, curiously interesting, and watchable. Grant was fantastic as the bon vivant wanna be that lived life on his charm alone. Wells was strikingly engaging as the bookseller who cared about Israel. I loved her trusting softness. Jane Curtin as Israel’s agent Marjorie was excellent, direct and forthcoming. Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty wrote a strong and engaging screenplay. Marielle Heller did an excellent job of directing this film except I would have liked some closure on Anna’s script storyline.

Overall: This was a crafted film with excellent acting.