Our Kind of Traitor

First Hit:  Really nice build up for first half,  just sustains the intensity through the back half, but ends quite nicely.

My wife mentioned to me that she thought “Our Kind of Traitor” is a lackluster title for a film and I agree.

There are a couple of stories going on in this film:  First we have and see a Perry and Gail (Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts respectively) struggling as a married couple. And second we have a Russian laced espionage thriller. How do these two stories meet? Struggling as a couple, Perry and Gail are on holiday in Morocco to try to bring some romance back into their ten-year relationship.

They are very different people; Perry is a poetic professor at a prestigious university and Gail is a workaholic lawyer who makes a lot of money. In a Moroccan restaurant, Gail gets a work call and has to leave so Perry gets propositioned by a gregarious Russian named Dima (Stellan Skarsgard) to join his party for a drink. Dima takes a liking to Perry and invites him to a late night party followed by an early morning tennis match. Their friendship grows and Dima asks Perry to deliver a thumb drive to MI6 in London when he returns home.

As head money launderer for the Russians, Dima suspects he and his family will be killed soon after a bank deal transpires in London. Gail thinks Perry is not doing a smart thing by going through with the delivery but despite her opinion, he follows through.

The tale heats up after they deliver the thumb drive to MI6 Agent Hector (Damian Lewis) but starts to fall off in intensity as the cat and mouse game begins to drag on. However, in the end, Dima wants to save his family, Perry and Gail may get closer, and Hector wants to put a nail in the coffin of his former boss whom he suspects as selling his soul and being a traitor.

McGregor was perfect because he portrayed the intelligence, compassion and integrity this role required. Watts was wonderful as the smart, quick witted wife while in the end wholly supporting her husband’s actions. Skarsgard was sublime. His intensity, deep boisterous growls, and single-minded objective made him the right man for this role. Lewis was adroitly a great choice as the MI6 agent, who was willing to move outside the box to follow his revenge. Hossein Amini wrote a good screenplay from the John le Carre novel. And despite the strong start and mediocre back half, Susanna White’s direction, in the end, brought the whole thing together rather well.

Overall:  One of the better film versions of a John le Carre story.

The Neon Demon

First Hit:  Odd, visually striking, with great electronic music but the direct story was way too twisted.

However, there are depths in this story that are poignant and were interesting. Directly, Jesse (Elle Fanning), is a young girl without parents who comes to LA seeking to be a model. As she states: “I can’t dance, sing, or have any skills, all I have is my looks.” At 16 she’s young, she’s beautiful and everyone who meets her is taken by her presence, innocence, inner strength and beauty.

She quickly rises up in the LA fashion modeling scene, and the other models are jealous. There is a lot of gossipy discussion among the other girls about what work they have had done on their bodies to make themselves look better: Nose jobs, breast augmentation, eye lifts, body augmentations and lots of other things so that they can be the “it” girl and continue to work.

Jesse is naturally beautiful and mesmerizes every clothing designer and photographer she meets. She has become the "it girl". Her innocence and surety of her beauty is profound.

The depth of the film comes with what people will do to be seen as beautiful and how much physical beauty matters. I’m not sure I liked the way it was presented as I was bored at times but it also had a power of drawing me into the main character.

Fanning was very good as the young mid-western girl wanting to live her dream of being a model. Her ethereal beauty and strength were evident and why she was chosen for this part - she was perfect for it. Karl Glusman as Dean a photographer and friend of Jesse was OK, but didn’t bring out a strong dynamic. Jena Malone was very interesting as Jesse’s friend and make-up artist. Her twists are edgy. Bella Heathcote as Gigi the model who will do anything surgically to be the “it” model. Abby Lee was interestingly strong as another model who has some odd eating habits (at the end of the film). Keanu Reeves as the intense somewhat twisted motel manager was a nice turn. Nicolas Winding Refn wrote and directed this oddly twisted film.

Overall:  This film was more odd and interesting than engaging.

Now You See Me 2

First Hit:  Very convoluted and moderately interesting story to show large scale illusions.

I would have settled on a film that had big magical illusions by tricking banks, Wall Street, a crooked company or something of that nature. In other words, more like the first film.

The story attempts to make a computer chip have the power to get past any security on any computer. Insurance tycoon Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) wants this chip badly because anyone breaking into his computers will find out he’s committed fraud. He enlists Walter Maybry (Daniel Radcliffe) to do what it takes to get the chip that the four horsemen have stolen.

Just to get here, the horsemen J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and new horseman Lula (Lizzy Caplan), are in hiding from the last film and being chased by the FBI including the horseman’s insider Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo).

The film spends too much time making as issue of Atlas’s wanting to be in charge of the horseman, trying to make a connection with the mysterious “Eye”, and how they got to China.

Then there is the questionably antagonist Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) who appears to be against the horseman but more specifically, Rhodes, but is he?

The film does come together in the end but the magic and illusion (the reason I wanted to see the film) of the last trick was telegraphed and I knew it was coming. In other words, it didn’t work on me.

Caine was appropriately stoic and arrogant. Radcliffe didn’t help his resume any. I didn’t think he was powerful enough to make his role work. Eisenberg was OK but not his best stuff. Harrelson had two roles, his twin and Merritt. I enjoyed their (his) interplay from time to time. Franco had a more minimal role in this film and I’m not sure that was the best move. Caplan as the new horseman was good and brought a more positive energy to the cast. Freeman was his ever present steady self. Ed Solomon wrote a convoluted uninteresting screenplay from his own story. Jon M. Chu probably did his best with this film but the story was weak.

Overall:  My guess there will be another film but if it is based on a story like this one, it will be a not be very good.

Money Monster

First Hit:  This film does not disappoint as it pointedly and powerfully touches on the themes of the day:  The struggle of the middle class, media’s (and social media) power to influence, the police’s response to a situation, and the rich manipulating the system for self-benefit.

Lee Gates (George Clooney) is an over amplified version of Jim Cramer’s afternoon program called “Mad Money” on CNBC.

In Gates’ daily program called “Money Monster” he uses sometimes crude, always flamboyant, and other over the top ways to share what he thinks is going on in the stock market. He’s got a huge following. His director is Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts).

The live show’s success is the combination of his unpredictability, verbal acuity, smarts, and unbridled flair as directed and in concert with her ability to know where he’s going with any particular point allowing the screen graphics to match Gate’s thoughts thereby maximizing the impact for the viewers.

Does Gates go overboard? Yes, and based on statements he made on an earlier show’s prediction for IBIS (an automated trading company), Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell) loses all his money. In fact, just about everyone who invested in IBIS loses their money.

Kyle is beyond angry, he wants answers and makes his way onto the set of Gates’ live show with a gun and a vest bomb which he forces Gates to wear.

This film is about: How Kyle comes to this breaking point. How Gates responds to this life threatening intrusion. How some people manipulate money for their own greedy purpose. How the public responds to this live, on air, real-time drama. How the police respond to Budwell’s dilemma. And about Kyle’s pregnant girlfriend Molly (Emily Meade); how does she respond to this event?

I won’t tell you how the film deals with all these questions except to comment on one: How the police respond. Waking up this morning after seeing the film last night, I’m still saddened by the reflective shoot first mentality of the police. We are bombarded these days with the police shooting people as a solution to many situations. There seems to be little room in their mantra to learn more about the situation and the people involved before shooting them.

In this film, from the get go, they (particularly one cop) had one focus which was to kill (“take him out”) Kyle. It isn’t that I didn’t understand their position, guy with gun sometimes aiming it at law enforcement officers, but their actions were heavy handed and reflected the large number of police shootings that cross our headlines every day.

Clooney is perfect as the narcissistic TV personality that masks a lonely life. His portrayal of Gates is wonderful because his caring true self wins in the end. Roberts was beyond fantastic. I thought she caught all the nuances of a TV director and someone who was willing to risk her life to do the right thing for all. O’Connell was amazingly strong as the semi-unhinged guy who just wanted to not be ripped off any longer. His life as a $14.00 an hour guy, who had just lost his mother, his strong willed girlfriend being pregnant, and his concern for how his baby would survive in this world was palpable in all his actions. His moments of confusion, reflection, humiliation, and clear path to wanting to get answers were spot on. Caitriona Balfe as Diane Lester the girlfriend of IBIS CEO and Chief Publicity Officer for IBIS was very good as her subtle shift of consciousness from stonewalling the public to leading the charge and find out what happened was well portrayed. Dominic West as IBIS CEO Walt Camby was well done. His manipulative version of, I’m lying through my teeth about our company being transparent, ran true. Meade as the fed-up girlfriend was powerful as her character pulled no punches. Lastly, Lenny Venito as Lenny the cameraman was perfect. Jamie Linden and Alan DiFiore wrote a wonderfully taut and biting screenplay that covered a lot of bases. Jodie Foster did an excellent job of directing this film. There were some outstanding moments and cuts that were really strong and moved this film along at the perfect clip while covering a lot of ground.

Overall:  This real-time film was perfectly acted, had a strong script and was elegantly directed by Jodie Foster - kudos.

Eye in the Sky

First Hit:  A complex film giving a really multifacited view of how fighting wars remotely, through cameras and armed drones, is changing the face and mental complexities of war.

Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) is in charge of a mission to capture a British woman who is, with her Arabic husband, helping Islamic revolutionaries with suicide attacks. Powell has been tracking this person for 6 years from England through the use spies, informants and remote tracking devices.

At the time, her remote surveillance is provided for by the US using drone pilots located in a USAF unit stationed in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the first time she has a chance to capture this person in Nairobi, Kenya along with two other people who have become radicalized, one a US citizen and the other a British citizen.

Also working with her is the Kenyan army who are ready to apprehend this group when the opportunity arises. Watching her and the surveillance feeds remotely from another part of England is General Benson (Alan Rickman), who is with others from the British Government including the Attorney General.

This group is viewing the remote feeds to ensure the actions the Colonel takes are legal. However, the radicals move to an area where the government army cannot go, therefore the capture is off and now it is about finding a way to take out this group by using rockets from the drone.

There is a lot of discussion about doing this, including the amount of possible collateral damage. When they “Eye in the Sky” a drone pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) sees a 9-year-old girl named Alia (Aisha Takow) near the target area he asks for a re-assessment of the collateral damage area. While this is being assessed, Col. Powell is pressing for the attack, British Government sitting with the General are mixed in their assessment of weather to attack or not.

The US Government, which comes up in two different calls, states clearly they want the attack regardless of the collateral damage, and the Pilot and his co-pilot Carrie Gershon (Phoebe Fox) will do what they are ordered while showing the extreme signs of the stress and difficulty of the situation.

Mirren is really strong as the obsessed Colonel that will do almost anything to meet her objective. Rickman (in probably his final film) was really good using his typical droll and intelligent way of communicating. Paul was excellent as the drone pilot that was participating in his first use of deadly force. Takow was wonderful as the Kenyan girl causing all the questions. Fox was very good as the new inexperienced co-pilot. Barkhad Adbi was superb as the Kenyan undercover agent using miniature drone camera devices and finding ways to help minimize the collateral damage. Guy Hibbert wrote an exceptional screenplay. It was complex, filled with great dialogue and fully explored the dilemma afforded by fighting war with technology and remote abilities. Gavin Hood did an excellent job of creating the intimacy of each remote area and the wholeness of how remote wars are being fought.

Overall:  This film was excellent in so many ways and did a great job of bringing in both the political and military aspects of this type warfare to light.