Review: A Haunting In Venice

Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox.

"A Haunting in Venice," the third entry in actor-director Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot series, is a stylishly-shot but somewhat languorous murder mystery that is based on Agatha Christie's "Hallowe'en Party." Venice has always been a great spot for filming thrillers - look no further than Nicolas Roeg's deeply unsettling "Don't Look Now" - and Branagh and company get maximum usage out of that city's bridges and canals.

The film is based on one of Christie's lesser-known novels - whereas the first two were adaptations of the classic mysteries "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Death on the Nile" - which is a benefit to audiences who might not necessarily know the outcome this time around. This third Poirot mystery also includes a hint of the supernatural, which was not present in the previous entries.

This time around, Poirot is lured out of retirement by a pal, mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), to attend a seance held by a psychic (Michelle Yeoh) whom Oliver wants to expose as a charlatan, although she's seemingly convinced by that woman's ability to commune with the dead. The scene is an old Venetian house where a mother named Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly) previously lost her daughter, possibly to murder.

As usual, a Who's Who of suspects abound - Oliver, the psychic, a dedicated nanny (Camille Cottin), Rowena's ex-husband (Kyle Allen), a doctor who looked after the deceased girl (Jamie Dornan), the doctor's young son (Jude Hill, of "Belfast"), two Romanian war refugee teens (Ali Khan and Emma Laird), and an ex-cop (Fernando Piloni).

Shortly into the psychic's performance, Poirot exposes her as a fraud but then a murder occurs and Poirot - in the same fashion as the other films of this series - locks everyone into the house until he can figure out who the murderer is. Then another murder occurs. Throughout the course of the investigation, Poirot must also reconcile what appears to be a supernatural presence in the house with his lack of belief in ghosts or any sort of afterlife.

While the first two Poirot films were more familiar - and less prone to surprises for those who already knew how they culminated - they were also more engrossing. "A Haunting in Venice" is stylish and the film's camerawork is reminiscent of the work of Orson Welles, from dutch tilt angles to deep-focus shots and close-ups of significant objects. There's even a screeching cockatoo, for those familiar with "Citizen Kane." In other words, the film looks great.

The mystery itself is a little less compelling this time around, perhaps because its denouement is seemingly pulled from nowhere. Even though I had a feeling that the character who is eventually unmasked as the murderer might have been guilty, there aren't many clues this time around as to why - as opposed to the previous Poirot entries - and the reason for their misdeeds, while understandable in the context of the picture, feels random.

"A Haunting in Venice" is my least favorite of the three Poirot movies - whereas most other reviewers gave middling reviews to "Death on the Nile," which I preferred - but it's still an often enjoyable whodunnit with a cast of great actors and some haunting photography. It may not have a whopper of a finale like "Orient Express," but it's well made and the film's best moments once again involve Poirot considering how he views the world and philosophical manners in light of his latest case. As a piece of escapist entertainment, it provides some modest pleasures.

Review: The Good Mother

Image courtesy of Vertical Entertainment.

There's a better movie hiding somewhere within "The Good Mother," a dramatic thriller directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte that is centered around the opioid crisis. In fact, glimpses of that movie can be seen during the first half of the picture, which is set in Albany and focuses on an alcoholic journalist named Marissa (Hilary Swank), who learns from her son, Toby (Jack Reynor), a cop, that her other son has been shot to death in what appears to be a drug-related crime.

Although upset by this tragic turn of events, both Toby and Marissa appear to have been resigned to such a fate for Michael, a once-aspiring baseball player who became hooked on opioids at a young age after suffering a sports injury. At the funeral, Marissa slaps Michael's girlfriend - Paige (Olivia Cooke) - because she blames her for the drug habits shared between the younger woman and Michael, but feels guilty after learning that Paige is pregnant.

Shortly thereafter, Paige discovers a large stash of a drug known as "Mother's Milk" in her apartment, and two men break into the apartment to seemingly get their hands on it. Paige escapes and gives the drugs to Toby, who says he believes that a mutual friend of Michael and Paige - Ducky (Hopper Penn) - might have been responsible not only for the drug stash, but also Michael's death.

While Marissa is on a break from work - her editor seems to continually suggest she should be taking time off - she and Paige begin nosing around and doing their own detective work. Marissa suggests that she might use whatever she finds for an article, although there are only a few instances in which she attempts to interview anyone. There's a particularly harrowing sequence during which another woman recounts how she lost her daughter to drugs during a group counseling session - and, unfortunately, we never hear from this character again.

In fact, the second half of the film becomes more of a mystery - and one in which a major plot twist changes the film's entire trajectory. For starters, the twist is one that I saw coming - but it's also one that detracts from the film's somber take on the opioid crisis (the picture is set in 2016 during the height of the crisis) because the twist is somewhat outlandish and mostly unexplained, and it threatens to suck the air out of the rest of the film.

At the film's end, Marissa bangs out a long article in which she relays her own personal struggles with the opioid crisis and how it affected her family - but as I'd mentioned, she appears to do little in the way of interviews and research, and seems to be winging it. The film's ending is left open to interpretation in terms of whether Marissa will actually get the article published, for reasons I won't divulge here.

Swank does her best with the role, but similar to the characters portrayed by Reynor and Cooke, her character is underwritten. Only Karen Aldridge's mother character - who delivers the monologue during the group session - leaves much of an impression. Had the film focused on her struggles - or given Swank's character challenges that didn't involve over-the-top plot twists, "The Good Mother" might have been better. As such, it's atmospheric - the streets of Albany are well utilized for this particular story - and watchable, but uneven.

supposedly journalist but not interviewing anyone - but then bangs out story at end

plot twist a little silly

Review: Bottoms

Image courtesy of Orion Pictures.

There are occasions when I feel slightly old when watching a movie or TV show about younger characters, especially those inhabiting the present day and age; it's naturally easier to relate to period piece coming of age stories when one grew up during the periods in which the story is taking place. Needless to say, the first third of Emma Seligman's oddball high school comedy "Bottoms" made me feel a little on the aged side (full disclosure: I turned 46 this week).

Then, about 30 minutes into the picture - which is a peculiar blend of your typical high school comedy with "Fight Club" and "Heathers" - I began to warm to it. I'm still not entirely sure the whole thing works, but there was enough there to grab my attention and mostly keep it.

Although the film takes place in your typical high school setting, there's something off about this world, as if everything is exaggerated to an obviously over-the-top extent. For example, the high school football team leads the school in a chant about how horny they are during pep rallies, teachers and students use profane language in discussion with one another about everyday topics, and the two lead characters - PJ (Rachel Sennot, star of Seligman's other film, "Shiva Baby") and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) - are referred to by homophobic slurs (both characters are gay) when called to the principal's office over the loudspeaker. 

In other words, everything's just a little off in "Bottoms." And there's never any explanation as to why this is - you either just accept it or you don't. At first, the film's tone veers between being quirky and grating, but once you become accustomed to it, there are a fair share of laughs to be had.

Without getting too far into the details as to why this happens, PJ and Josie start a self defense class for the school's young women, although it's really more of a fight club where they punch each other out with great enthusiasm. The ulterior motive for starting the club is to attract the attention of their crushes - cheerleaders Brittany (Kaia Gerberg) for PJ and Isabel (Havana Rose Liu), who is dating the school's obnoxious and easily frazzled super jock, for Josie.

There's no need to go too far into the plot details here, but while "Bottoms" follows some typical high school movie beats (the fight club becomes popular before losing credibility with the school population, and both PJ and Josie win the trust of their crushes, only to have their plan backfire), it is also bizarre on a level rarely seen in these types of films - and that's before the bloody finale involving a fight between the club and a rival football team's players.

"Bottoms" doesn't always work. It's a little slow to get going at first, and while I appreciated the commentary on sexual assault, police inaction, and misogyny, and found it refreshing to see old tropes being given such an unusual spin, I'm not sure the film ultimately knows what it wants to say about the numerous timely topics it riffs on. As such, "Bottoms" is an unusual and often enjoyably transgressive coming of age story, even if it's not completely successful. 

Review: Golda

Image courtesy of Bleecker Street Media.

Buried beneath a mountain of makeup and almost always with cigarette in hand, Helen Mirren disappears into the role of Golda Meir, the Israeli prime minister who was the first female head of government in the Middle East. Known as the "Iron Lady of Israel," Meir was the head of state during the 1973 Yom Kippur War when Egypt and Syria joined forces to attack Israel.

The film, much like the recent "Oppenheimer," utilizes the narrative device of a hearing - in this case, Meir is sitting before a committee to determine whether her government had been adequately prepared for the war after the nation was caught off guard by the attack.

Mirren is the best part of what is often a slightly stuffy movie in which Golda and groups of men sit in meetings making preparations for war or reconfiguring their strategies after having lost numerous tanks and men in battles. Throughout all this, Golda chain smokes and occasionally has nightmares of the dead who were claimed in the war.

Much like Ava Duvernay's "Selma," the film places an historical figure at the center of a pivotal moment in their career, rather than engage in a hagiographic biopic that tells their life story. The central focus of "Golda" is the Yom Kippur War and how Meir handled this fraught series of days. As such, we learn little about Meir, outside of her incessant smoking and the specific decisions she made about that war.

And yet, Mirren - who is among the greatest living actresses - finds a way to humanize Meir, rather than merely portray her as a figurehead. Most of Meir's advisers do not fare as well - and are not as memorable - other than Camille Cottin as a loyal aide whom Meir treats as family and Liev Schreiber, whose portrayal of U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is solid.

The history of the Yom Kippur War is fascinating material, so it's a shame that much of our experience of it in the film is people discussing attack routes, casualties, and military equipment losses in boardrooms. There's a horrific sequence during which one of Meir's military advisers flies in a helicopter over one of the fields of battle in the dark, and the sky is illuminated by the massive explosions going on below. Otherwise, the war is given a speculative treatment and, as such, feels at a remove.

"Golda" is not a bad movie. Mirren's performance - and those of some of the other cast members - are memorable, while the true story behind the attack is interesting enough to keep one compelled, but I believe there is a better movie that could be made about his material. 

There are two scenes that particularly stuck out to me in the film - one in which Meir insists that Kissinger try a bowl of borscht made by one of Meir's servants, and another late in the film that shows the real Meir - who comes off as humorous and lively - in stock footage discussing peace with Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat during a news conference. Those incidents tell us more about Meir than anything we see in this film about her.

Review: Passages

Image courtesy of MUBI.

The latest film from Ira Sachs - whose body of work primarily focuses on intimate human dramas, such as "Love is Strange," "Frankie," and "Married Life" - is well made and full of solid performances, even if the scenario at its center and the consequences that result from it seem a bit overly familiar.

"Passages" was a hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and it's bolstered by strong performances from lead actors Franz Rogowski and Ben Whishaw - portraying a married couple, the former of whom is a temperamental film director - as well as Adele Exarchopoulos, the woman who gets in between their relationship by engaging in an affair with Tomas (Rogowski), who surprises both himself and his husband by the fact that he's bisexual.

The performances are what make the film ultimately click, even when it feels as if the picture isn't necessarily saying anything new about such a scenario. One element of the film that is particularly interesting is the juxtaposition of Tomas' work ethic with the goings on in his personal life. 

As the film opens, he is nitpicking the lead actor - and even the extras - as he prepares to shoot a scene in his latest film. Every time the camera is set to begin rolling, he walks back onto the set, grumbling and criticizing someone about something they are doing. This meticulousness in his career is a far cry from the messy, rambunctious way he engages with people personally as he makes a mess of both his relationships with Martin (Whishaw) and Agathe (Exarchopoulos), whom he meets at a nightclub and quickly engages for an affair.

Things become even more complicated when Martin decides that he wants nothing to do with Tomas and, instead, gets involved in his own tryst with a writer named Amad (Erwan Kepoa Fale), while Tomas impregnates Agathe and doesn't do a great job convincing her nervous parents that he'll stand by her through the pregnancy.

"Passages" is ultimately about a narcissist (Tomas) who burns bridges both professionally - you get the sense that people on his movie sets won't want to work with him again - and personally. At the same time, while Martin and Agathe put up with his nonsense, there's never a sense that they are necessarily weak people. As the film nears its end, and these two characters meet for a coffee, it's obvious they are both moving on from Tomas, leaving him to crash and burn - something he's likely done before and will likely do again and again - on his own.

"Passages" might not be my favorite Sachs picture - that would probably be either "Love is Strange" - but it's a solid indie feature with strong performances and an intriguing take on tumultuous relationships. All in all, a pretty decent film.

Review: The Last Voyage Of The Demeter

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures.

Universal Pictures has long been trying to stick the landing with its Dark Universe series and, to be fair, there has been the occasional success, such as 2020's "The Invisible Man." However, there was also "Renfield," "The Mummy," and "Dracula Untold," which were - to say the least - not as successful.

Its latest attempt is "The Last Voyage of the Demeter," another Dracula tale that comes a mere four months after "Renfield," which took a campy approach to the famed bloodsucker, whereas this latest picture - which is based on a single chapter in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" - is much more like an old-school Hammer horror film. It's occasionally creepy and deadly serious.

All in all, it's not a bad attempt at once again reviving the count. It's better than "Renfield," "The Mummy" and some other attempts at bringing Universal's classic horror villains back to life, although it's not nearly as good as "The Invisible Man."

Atmosphere goes a long way in "Demeter." The film chronicles the doomed ship in which Dracula's coffin was transported from Romania to England. Not surprisingly, the crew and nearly all aboard - which also includes a woman, a kid, and some livestock - are no longer among the living by the end of the journey. The film holds few surprises up its sleeve, but it does a reasonable job of handling the material, even if I'd never exactly imagined Dracula as a gigantic bat-looking creature with wings.

The tale of the Demeter is told through the ship captain's log in both the book and, to an extent, in the film, but the lead character is a doctor named Clemens (Corey Hawkins), who has a difficult time gaining the trust of the crew, both due to his race and to the fact that he's never before sailed with anyone else on the boat. 

Soon, it becomes apparent that something strange is afoot aboard the ship after the livestock are brutally slaughtered and a woman, who appears to have a blood infection, is discovered as a stowaway. Shortly thereafter, the crew starts getting picked off by a creepy presence that lurks in the ship's shadows. As a man of science, Clemens is quick to dismiss the presence as supernatural, while the ship's cook - who's religious - believes the devil is along for the ride.

Not a whole lot happens that you won't see coming from a mile away, but "Demeter" is often creepy and atmospheric enough to keep it interesting. At the same time, the film is more passable than invigorating. It's the type of picture where I could admire the craft, while at the same time not see anything that I hadn't seen some variation of numerous times before. It's passable - albeit mostly well made - summer fare.

Review: Dreamin' Wild

Image courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

It was at some point in the past decade that I discovered the song after, I believe, I was skimming through a Pitchfork article on the top 200 songs of the 1970s. In the process of looking up a few of the selections of which I was not familiar, I came upon Donnie and Joe Emerson's "Baby," and was immediately struck by its haunting, soulful crooning backed by a mellow, almost eerie late 1970s beat.

I was surprised to find that the song was written and recorded by a couple of teenagers, whose semi-cheesy album cover for their only record, "Dreamin' Wild," might not exactly lead a listener to believe they'd stumbled on a gold mine - but the album was rediscovered in the 2010s, given some rave reviews by prominent music magazines and was the subject of a New York Times article, upon which the new film - "Dreamin' Wild," directed by Bill Pohlard, who was responsible for the solid Brian Wilson biopic, "Love and Mercy" - is based.

The film, much like its musical source material, is soulful and often sad, a story about a lost dream that finally comes true, only to lead the dreamer to realize that he's not the same person he once was when he originally had the dream and, therefore, might no longer be able to play the part that he once fantasized for himself.

Casey Affleck plays the grown version of Donnie Emerson, the whiz behind the band's music, who operates a failing recording studio circa 2011 in small town Washington. His brother, Joe (Walton Goggins), primarily works with his hands and looks back on their music-making days as "fun," but certainly not the life calling that his brother envisioned. Also central to the story is their farmer father (Beau Bridges) who goes to great lengths - often heartbreaking ones - to show his sons that he believes in them.

The film jumps back and forth in time, occasionally placing Affleck's grown-up Donnie in the same scene as the teenage version of himself (played by Noah Jupe). The framing device in the picture is an appearance from an exuberant small-time record producer (Chris Messina, having a very good year) who wants to rerelease "Dreamin' Wild," so that it gets the attention that it missed the first time around. 

Joe and much of the rest of the family are excited about the newfound love for the record, but Donnie is hesitant. We gradually learn that his own musical career never took off - at the film's beginning, he and his wife (Zooey Deschanel) are mostly playing wedding parties - and that he has a difficult time facing the family that was willing to support his career at great risk.

There's also a tension between the two brothers. Donnie is the family's musical genius and often chides Joe for not being able to keep time on the drums during their recording sessions. This is done lovingly in the early scenes when they are boys, but becomes harsher during their attempts at putting together a reunion tour.

There are excellent performances all around, from Affleck's portrayal of the temperamental artist and Goggins' turn as the brother who knows that his sibling will quickly overshadow his own talents to Bridges, who gives one of his best performances in years as their father. 

"Dreamin' Wild" is a smaller indie film that, much like the album that inspired it, might be overshadowed by some of the season's flashier titles. But, also like the Emersons' album, it deserves to be discovered. It's a soulful little film about what it takes to create something special artistically, but also about the people an artist relies on for support in doing so.