EDDIE THE EAGLE

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs

Out of Four




Starring Taron Edgerton, Hugh Jackman, Jo Hartley, Mark Benton, Tim McInnery
and Christopher Walken
Screenplay by Sean McCaulay
and Simon Kelton
Directed by Dexter Fletcher
Rated PG=13 (some suggestive material, partial nudity and smoking) 

I have never been known as a sports enthusiast, but there has always been something about the Winter Olympics that has held a sense of excitement and joy to me (except for when they were in my home state, oddly enough.). I had a few Olympic heroes as a kid: Scott Hamilton, Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean, Katarina Witt, Brian Boitano . . . and Eddie Edwards.

In addition to being the only one of this group that was not a figure skater, Eddie was also the only one who never medaled. But that isn't isn't why you loved Eddie. You loved Eddie because not only did he get to go to the Olympics, but he took you with him.

Taron Edgerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service) stars as Eddie, an awkward loner growing up in England, obsessed with a dream: to be an Olympic athlete. Despite the fact that he takes to any sport he tries like a duck to rednecks, the boy simply refuses to stop trying. His mother (Jo Hartley) is mildly  terrified that her clumsy son is going to get himself killed, but cannot bring herself to crush his dream. His father, on the hand, seems fully aware that he is not only the Dad character in a movie, but a quirky, stern, British one at that, and therefore must follow the handbook and believe that Eddie needs to get his head out of the clouds and learn the family trade.

When Eddie takes to the idea of skiing, he falls short of making the Olympic team, in no small part because the team doesn't want him. Every time the young man comes close to reaching his goal, the officials change the rules make it harder to get on the team. But when Eddie gets the idea of becoming the first British skijumper, he may have found his way in due to lack of competition.

Enter Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), a swaggering, alcoholic American mechanic who works on the grounds where Eddie is training. But Peary is more than just a handyman: he's was once a great skijumper until he lost, took to drink, and retired in disgrace, much to the dismay of his mentor (Christopher Walken.).

It goes without saying that the cynical Peary reluctant starts to admire Eddie's tenacity and eventually is won over to becoming his trainer, and that as Eddie strives to conquer the slopes, it eventually inspires Peary to conquer the bottle. This is an extremely formulaic feel good sports movie,rand much like its title character, this movie isn't about being unpredictable It's about being fun and inspiring. It's about pleases the crowd, and that it does, with the same gusto as its namesake. Between the sincerity of the lead performances, the wit of the script, and the thrilling, creatively shot jumping sequences (this is the only time I have ever actually liked the use of GoPro cameras in a feature film), the movie delivers on every level as a work of entertainment. It's pure joy from beginning to end.

It's also heavily fictionalized. Jackman's character is completely made up for the purposes of the film (he's not even an amalgam of several real life people, he's just flat out imaginary) and much of Eddie's training and formative process is, too say the least, simplified. But when it's all said and done, this isn't a major chapter in world history, it's the story of how a legend was born, and much like The Revenant (a very, very different film to say the least ) it's almost essential in capturing the spirit of this story to embellish it. Some may feel otherwise and go harder on the film for it's fast and loose approach, but I simply had too much fun, was far too moved, and too overcome with nostalgia to hold any of this against the movie.

Edgerton is completely unrecognizable, and just as capable of carrying a film with thick glasses and at least forty extra pounds of tubbiness as he was as the smooth, stylin' bad boy in Kingsman. Jackman, one of Hollywood's most charming actors with one of it's very worst track records for appearing in good films, is as good in this as he in an actual good X-Men movie.The two could not play better off of each other, and when you add to that Christopher Walken and Tim McInnery, you've got the most entertaining cast of the year so far by a number of yards.

Eddie may not be a true champion, but it is spirited fun that left me feeling glad to be alive.

HAIL, CAESAR!

Reviewed by Paul and Patrick Gibbs

Out of Four




Hail, Caeser!
Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes,  Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johanson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum
Written and Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
Rated PG-13 (vulgarity, adult themes)




As brothers/filmmakers with a somewhat odd and subversive sense of humor, Joel and Ethan Coen are superheroes to us. But it's never easy to review a Coen brothers film. Like many auteurs, their creative vision is so unique that it has become almost a subgenre unto itself. But unlike, say, Quentin Tarantino, whose nihilistic violence and pop culture worship creates a familiar tone to all of his film, the Coens have a broad range that makes it difficult to nail down what exactly is the feel of a Coen film. They have their own voice, but they use it to sing far more than one note. Nevertheless, that note is so distinctively Coen that, while their sensibilities suit us very well, the most common appraisal we give of a Coen film to others is "If you're not a Coen fan you'll probably have a hard time getting into it."

While their latest film, Hail, Caesar!  fits more into the category of comedies like O Brother, Where Art Thou? than to grittier and more dramatic fare like Fargo or No Country For Old Men, it's not quite in the same category. Hail, Ceasar! is funny, but it doesn't get the kind of constant laughs that O, Brother or The Big Lebowski did, and it doesn't really seem to be trying to. Above all else, it seems intended to create a portrait of golden age Hollywood both on and off screen, one that at once captures the magic of the movies and the sordid drama behind the scenes, and is simultaneously cynical and loving about both.


Josh Brolin, a member of the Coen Repertory Company since No Country For Old Men, plays the lead role of Eddie Mannix, a "fixer" for fictional Capitol Pictures in post World War II Hollywood. Eddie is responsible for dealing with the vast array of daily crises which plague production, including:

- Director Laurence Lorentz' (Ralph Fiennes)  fury at being forced to turn cowboy star Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) into a suave and sophisticated leading man in the drawing room comedy Merrily We Dance.

- Beloved Hollywood sweetheart DeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson) needing a husband to avoid the bad publicity of having an out of wedlock child.

- Being hounded by sister gossip columnists Thora and Thessaly Thacker (both played by Tilda Swinton) about a reported scandal involving superstar Baird Whitlock's first film.

-Whitlock himself (George Clooney) being kidnapped off the set of the studio's prestige biblical epic, Hail, Casear - A Tale of the Christ.

Meanwhile, at the same time that Eddie is dealing with all of this, he's being courted for a cushy, well-paying job at Lockheed. Will he leave Hollywood behind?

A film with this many diverging plot elements could easily feel disjointed and suffer for varying quality from Story A to Story B, but the Coens and their stellar cast keep things moving and ensure that each subplot is engaging (even if the only one of the characters besides Mannix who seems like a decent guy is Hobie). Every one of the major stars blends perfectly into both the time period and the surreal style of a Coen comedy, and the film within a film sequences are real highlights, giving the Coens and genius cinematographer Roger Deakins a chance to flawless recreate the look of everything from Ben-Hur to a Roy Rogers cowboy musical. Clooney and Tatum are outstanding, with Tatum hitting his song and dance number (A Gene Kelly-esque tap dance to a song called "No Dames") out of the park, and Clooney giving us both the self-centered buffoon we expect from him in a Coen film, and a pitch perfect recreation of the heightened "epic" acting style of a Charlton Heston or Richard Burton. One of the real strengths of the film is that the movie sequences tow the line between homage and parody so perfectly. There's just enough comic exaggeration there to make it funny, but they're getting all of these styles and genres right and showing them a surprising level of respect. Clooney's final monologue at the foot of the cross is both cheesy and strangely moving until it reaches its comic climax, and Tatum doesn't just fake the dancing well enough, he dazzles and shows that he could have been a major star of light musical comedies back in the day.

If the film disappoints in any way, it's the aforementioned failure to provide the laugh a minute ratio we expect. But it's consistently engaging and entertaining, and some sequences are hilarious, such as Lorentz struggling to feed Hobie a line reading or Eddie meeting with an interfaith council to ensure the Hail, Caesar script is sufficiently respectful to all beliefs (Robert Picardo steals the film in his cameo as a cantankerous Rabbi). And the strange mix of weariness and reverence both Eddie and the film itself show for the craziness of Hollywood is surprisingly thoughtful, making the film something of an rumination on whether Hollywood or the movies really matter, and what they mean to us. Brolin is a very important part of making the film work, and he gives yet another strong performance which shows that the oldest Goonie has grown up to become an excellent actor with an impressive range. He carries the film effortlessly.

In then end, Hail, Caesar! doesn't rank with the Coen's best films, and it may turn out to be just too bizarre for some  (a line probably written in reviews of every Coen movie) . But it's a more than solid entry in their filmography, and for fans of both the Coen Brothers and old Hollywood, it's a must-see

THE 5TH WAVE

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs         

Starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Live Schreiber, Alex Roe, Ron Livingston, Maika Monroe and Maria Bello
Based on the novel by Rick Yancey
Screenplay by Susanna Grant, Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner
Directed by J Blakeson


Leonardo DaVinci foresaw manned flight. Orson Scott Card foresaw the internet. But there are some things about the future that no one can predict, no matter how much foresight they possess, and the post apocalyptic teeny bopper genre is most certainly one of those things.

For all of its many detractors (and I count myself as one) the success of the Twilight saga showed the entertainment world that there was an audience desperately crying out for stories centered around young female protagonists, and as such, it has actually had a very positive effect. The Hunger Games franchise was so far above the aforementioned title in terms of a compelling story and characters that it crossed over into appealing to many adults, and it has changed the popular notion of what a story for girls is supposed to be. You may be tired of these kinds of movies. The latest installment of the Detergent series may not interest you, but there is a large group that not only wants this, but needs to be represented. So, as badly done, backward and backhandedly sexist as Twilight most certainly was, I still applaud what it has done for a generation.

Unfortunately, as is always the case, the message that creators of popular fiction have taken from this is just as much that churning out variations on the same old thing tailored to fit the current trend means an easy return on your investment as that girls are people, too. Whether it's callous but stylish wise-cracking hitmen or teenage girls facing down the end of the world, it's always easier to just copy than it is to create. The 5th Wave is he latest movie trying to cash in, and to say that it is nothing more than War of the Worlds in a training bra is frankly being too kind.

Cassie (Chloe Grace Moretz) is a regular teenage girl with regular dreams, which she dutifully jots down in a diary, according to the Hollywood teenage girl handbook. She is also a cheerleader, and she has a crush on a football player.  But her entire world (not to mention everyone else's) is drastically changed by the arrival of  "The Others," which is the name that mankind gives to the inhabitants of mysterious spacecraft that appear around the world, hovering over cities and suburban neighborhoods, but not attempting to make contact, making everyone over 20 in the audience suddenly want to watch Independence Day. But of course, when "The Others" do make contact, they do it in the form of wanton mayhem and destruction in an attempt to exterminate the human race, because they too have a Hollywood handbook to follow.

Cassie and her father and brother Sammy end up in a military facility for survivors  (I honestly can't remember what happened to Mom, or if she eve existed, it was so hard to care.). It is there that they are informed that these invaders can take human form, and may be amongst them now ("Wait! You're saying that some of us are others?" a featured extra spouts, in what is likely to be the most unintentionally amusing line of the year.).

When news arrives that the base is under attack, the children are loaded onto buses to be taken to safety first. But Sammy forgets his Teddy Bear, so his dutiful older sister must go retrieve it. But of course, the buses leave without her, so when the adults are all gone, she must make it on her own.

From here, we follow dual storylines as Cassie tries to make it to her brother, meeting a mysterious yet ruggedly handsome young stranger (surprise) along the way, and her brother ends up training to be a soldier alongside her secret crush the football player (played by Jurassic World's Nick Robinson). The two plotlines compete to see which one can be more predictable and insipid, but Cassie's plot wins out in the end, which is an impressive accomplishment considering the Blackhawk Down Goes To Middle School sequence. I find it both fascinating and indescribably disturbing that so much of our popular fiction is based on the premise of kids being handed a gun and made into soldiers, forced to grow up immediately as they face kill or be killed situations, and yet no one bothers to see Beasts of No Nation, the most shameful Oscar snub of 2015. Is anyone else bothered by the fact that children being forced to kill is endlessly interesting to us as a fictional "what if?" science fiction scenario as long as they are white and American, but if they are not, and it's happening right now, nobody cares??? If I'm really the only one, then to quote Lucy Van Pelt, "Stop the world, I want to get off."

But back to the topic at hand: this particular movie is boring, poorly paced, and woefully predictable. The largely capable cast does their best with the material, but the immensely talented Moretz, who has given truly great performances in films ranging from Hugo to Kick Ass to The Equalizer that the fact that she could and should be doing better seems evident even to her, and her performance seems half hearted.  Robinson fares much better, and provides the only moments of the film where I started to care about any of these characters as if they were people. As usual, Liev Schreiber is wasted in a thankless role, and Mario Bello seems to be going for "first Razzie candidate of the year" in a small role as a Southern Fried Military woman.

In the end, this isn't quite bad enough to be interesting as a failure, but it's nowhere near good enough for any complimentary word higher than "watchable." If it reaches an audience, it will only be further testament to how badly the long underrepresented female young adult audience wants movies aimed at them, and to our responsibility to make better ones so that they we make sure that they are truly being represented and not just exploited with this new pop culture trend.

THE REVENANT

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs


Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter
Screenplay by Mark L. Smith and Alejandro G. Innaritu
Directed by
Alejandro G. Innaritu

Rated R (Violence, gory images, a sexual assault, and profanity)

Oscar Winner Alejandro G. Innaratu's 19th century story of survival has received a lot of press and a lot of hype, including an extremely bizarre controversy that spread over the Internet, when it was falsely reported that Leonardo Dicaprio's character is raped by a bear on screen (the studio quickly issued a statement to clarify this ridiculous assertion.). It may be the second most talked about film of the holiday movie season, surpassed only by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  So, with all of this talk, the big questions are simple: is is really as violent as you've heard? And is it good enough to justify that violence?

The answers are: "yes and no," and "almost." It's every bit as brutal and shocking as all that, but it's not the callous, bloodthirsty, devoid of any moral compass, Tarantino style revenge story that you might be expecting. What is being unflinchingly portrayed here  is the brutality of the conflict between white frontiersmen exploring and sometimes pillaging what is, to them, a new land, and the Native Americans who call it home. Even more so, it's a harsh portrayal of man's desperate determination in surviving against the elements of nature. The often very graphic depictions are essential to the story, and most of it doesn't feel as gratuitous as it easily could have, but the question "Did I really need to see that happening?" is going to vary wildly from viewer to viewer.

Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is a frontiersman and trapper guiding a quasi-military group of hunters and fur trappers through the Louisiana purchase territory in 1823.  His half Pawnee son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) is with him on the journey, and Glass keeps him close, especially after the group is ambushed by Arikara indians, leaving half of the party dead. Captain Henry (Gleeson) the leader, knows he they are being pursued, and that tensions among the men are high. Things are further complicated when Glass is viciously attacked by a bear trying to protect her cubs and is nearly mauled to death.

Glass is cared for as best as Henry can facilitate, but dragging a nearly dead man through the mountains and snow is significantly slowing down the party, who need to get back to the safety of the Fort before the Arikara find them. One of the men, Fitzgerald (Hardy) pleads a case for putting Glass out of his misery for his sake and theirs, but the Captain can't bring himself to do it. He offers a sizable cash reward anyone who will stay with Glass and care for him until he passes, and perform a proper burial when the time comes. When Hawk and another young man, Bridger (Will Coulter) offer to forfeit their shares to whoever will stay with them, Fitzgerald surprisingly volunteers on the grounds that he needs to make up for his losses on the expedition.

Of course, things only get worse from there, and a series of events leads up to Glass being left alone to die, as by all standards of sense he should. But Glass simply refuses to give up.

The story of Hugh Glass has been told and retold for over a century, and the dramatic embellishments added over the years are considered by historians to trace back to Glass himself. So on the one hand, once you read up on this and discover that most real life accounts are not as horrific and violent as the film portrays, that Glass's son Hawk is a creature of fiction, and that the final confrontation with Fitzgerald (whose real name was William Fitzpatrick) ended very differently, you start to question just how much of the unflinching brutality should be praised and how much of it should be criticized. But 20 years after Braveheart cleaned up at the Oscars, this is hardly anything new to Hollywood. This is an extremely compelling and vivid retelling of the Glass story, and history and legend are both timeless and timely, being told through the mouth of the storytellers of the day.

Innaritu is a remarkable storyteller, and his seeming control of every detail his camera captures is really unsurpassed by anyone. The "how did they do that?" factor to this movie is nothing short of staggering.  But if you're hoping to find a redemptive, inspiring element, it's not to be found. Instead, Innaritu juxtaposes the idea of what we will do to stay alive vs. what, if anything, we are ultimately living for, and the sad reality that finding the answer to the latter question can be more brutal than the fight to survive. As we see Glass's dead son live in flashbacks and dreams, as well as his interactions with and fierce protection of young Hawk, we discover that Glass and the bear are kindred spirits, and that realization is more than a bit haunting.

The movie does tend to meander a bit at times, and runs a bit too long. It's important not to rush Glass's self-recovery and perilous journey, but there are moments when it does start to drag a bit. In a particular, an extended sequence when he is happened upon by a lone Pawnee who helps nurse him back to health started to make me feel like I was watching an attempted reboot of The Lone Ranger, and probably could have been cut entirely.

But it's hard to fault a movie too much for aiming so high, and this is as skilled a piece of filmmaking as any in 2015, or in recent memory. The cast delivers all around, though there seems to be a deliberate (and wise) choice not to truly let us into anyone's head. Each character is an enigma, and we are never entirely sure what is going inside, or who they were before they ended up on this hellish predicament.

DiCaprio, the perennial Oscar hopeful, is obviously the one getting all of the attention (and he should be getting some for his pained, brooding performance that actually becomes more human and low key the further Glass has to descend into an animalistic world), but the most compelling characterizations actually come from Hardy, Gleeson and especially young Poulter, whose combination of wide eyed fear, staunch bravery, and ultimately self loathing and sorrow at his own weakness, make his wonderfully human portrayal of the legendary frontiersman Jim Bridger arguably the best part of the film. Hardy is everything we've come to expect him to be: burly, stoic and imposing, with a hard edge that masks the vulnerability inside, and as unlikable as Fitzgerald is, you can't completely dismiss his point of view. Gleeson has a rare ability to fit perfectly into any film, and adds an extremely welcome presence. Emmanuel Lubezki's captivating cinematography is arguably outstanding, and will likely guide him to his third Oscar in a row (and in the process put something of a damper on the current movement toward going back to shooting on film, as his stunning work here on digital catches bold and atmospheric images that burn into the mind's eye.).

On the whole, the movie is a triumph, if not for all tastes.  Innaritu tends to make "mood movies" that will either really work for you or really not, depending on how you go into them, and this is hardly the exception to that. But if you're up for it, there is a lot to admire here.