Movie with Abe: Maggie’s Plan

Maggie’s Plan
Directed by Rebecca Miller
Released May 20, 2016

There are people who have plans and those who are happy to let their lives be steered by events beyond their control. There are levels to which those with notions of how their lives will go are set in their ways and are willing to see other forces interact with and affect that. The expression “Man plans, God laughs” is perfectly descriptive of one such planner, the protagonist in “Maggie’s Plan,” who seeks to have a baby on her own and finds her life thrown into chaos when she starts to fall for a married man.

Maggie (Greta Gerwig) is a wide-eyed young professor in New York City who has decided that she will ask a high school friend, Guy (Travis Fimmel), to donate his sperm so that she can start a family since she has found no luck in pursuit of a boyfriend or future husband. Just as she is beginning that process, John (Ethan Hawke), a fellow professor and novelist, enters her life. Maggie begins to read his work in progress and can’t get him out of her head, and he finds himself similarly transfixed, a fact complicated by his marriage to intimidating Danish intellectual Georgette (Julianne Moore). Maggie thought she would follow the road that was best, but all that is disrupted when she realizes she might have to take another path.

This film comes from Rebecca Miller, who is married to Daniel Day-Lewis and directs and writes films about as sporadically as her husband stars in them. This story, written by Miller and Karen Rinaldi, is a highly entertaining one that incorporates academia in a very effective way. John’s field is ficto-critical anthropology, which is equally pretentious and aggressively counterculture. The conversations these characters have border on absurd, but there is an intellectual grounding to all of them that enhances each scene greatly.

Gerwig has established herself as a respected independent actress, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else in this part as she inhabits yet another free spirit guided mainly by her desire to be her own person and hardly prone to any directing pulls that don’t align with her sense of self. Hawke has fun with a role that allows him to depart from his “Boyhood” archetype, and Moore in particular seems to be having a blast with a thick accent and exaggerated character. In supporting roles as Maggie’s friends, Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph contribute controlled comedy, and Fimmel makes an impression as the undeniably peculiar Guy. This film is a fun journey full of missteps with a strong script and committed cast, and a particularly clever second act.

B+

Movie with Abe: Money Monster

Money Monster
Directed by Jodie Foster
Released May 13, 2016

There’s a lot to say about the economy. Especially in recent years, the general consensus is that it’s an unstable entity that is only made more volatile by manipulative and self-promoting actions taken by those with plenty of it who feel a burning desire to make more. Predictably, people get hurt, and there are outcomes that can’t be reversed. “Money Monster,” a flashy new film with three high-profile stars involved, dramatizes one potential implication as a man who believes that he has been misled by those in power and ruined his life in the process and is determined to make someone pay.

Lee Gates (George Clooney) is the host of a television show that serves as this film’s title in which he analyzes the economy and gives stock tips to viewers. The extent of his ridiculousness is made clear in the film’s opening scenes as Lee is seen dancing on stage with elaborate costumes and flanked by two dancing women, emphasizing the nature of his show as sensational and difficult to be taken seriously. He is guided and kept in line by his longtime producer Patty (Julia Roberts), who is forced to think fast to try to keep him alive when a disgruntled viewer (Jack O’Connell) shows up in the middle of a live taping with a bomb and a score to settle with the man who encouraged him to invest his life savings in a bad stock.

This is a film that stars two of the biggest and most well-known actors around and is directed by an actress who has now become a respected director. They all won Oscars for extremely dramatic roles that represent the higher tier of films in their respective genres. Clooney, Roberts, and Jodie Foster would seem like the perfect team to tackle a premise like this, especially on the heels of the success of “The Big Short” and the American intellectual public’s apparent craving for someone to blame for the country’s economic woes. While this film is undeniably engaging, it’s hardly the cinematic masterpiece that it could have been. The characters are too broadly drawn and the dialogue is uninspired, and while the film may have lofty ideas about the message it wants to send, it doesn’t convey them in the most technically competent way. Clooney is a capable talker and the versatile O’Connell does his best to make the human villain of the story credible, but as one member of the screening audience said while walking out behind me, this is a film that audiences will love and critics will hate. I can’t say I hated it, but this is a piece of entertainment much more than it is a quality film.

B-

Movie with Abe: High-Rise

High-Rise
Directed by Ben Wheatley
Released May 13, 2016

The daily routines of a person’s life take them to many different places. Necessary errands like buying groceries, filling up gas, and going to the doctor facilitate human contact with those from other walks of like. Those who reside in the same building share certain traits but can also look nothing alike, and when the only thing they know is what immediately surrounds them, the world can begin to come crashing down, as it does in a magnificent way for the residents of a luxurious high-rise in this furious depiction of social chaos at its most outrageous.

Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) is a man who says little and observes plenty, rarely contributing to the conversations around him and subsisting on not being noticed. His work involves the rather brutal examination of dead bodies, something that makes students queasy but doesn’t faze him at all. His move to the high-rise introduces him to a self-sufficient system in which he can even shop in the massive supermarket on the fifteen floor, leaving work as his only reason to leave the building. Robert watches as those around him begin to go to war – the rich on the top floors eager to quash the rebellious poor on the bottom floors – and everything devolves completely out of control.

Set in London in the 1970s, “High-Rise” boasts dazzling costumes and interior visuals. Those contrast greatly with the desolate nothingness of the outside world, devoid of much color with the high-rise looming alone above a giant parking lot and with little in the sky around it. Robert is seen at work and in the car, but otherwise, the high-rise is everything. The lavishness of what the high-rise provides despite the great disparity of wealth that separates its playboy intellectuals and working-class families is incredible, and the potential for destruction is immeasurable, yet the characters give it their all as they delight in ripping each other to pieces.

Hiddleston, best known to American audiences for playing Loki in the Marvel universe movies, has the right sedated aura to make Robert an almost nonexistent player in his own story, immune to the allure of the chaos and therefore able to best take it in as it rages around him. Standouts from the supporting cast include Jeremy Irons as the architect of the building, James Purefoy as a conniving upper-floor resident, Luke Evans as a committed liberal documentarian, and Elisabeth Moss as his neglected pregnant wife. The film’s visual style is an extraordinary asset, contributing just as much to its storytelling as its characters. This is an unsettling and wild journey, one that shows the true depths to which humanity can sink when given the opportunity.

B+

Movie with Abe: The Lobster

The Lobster
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Released May 13, 2016

Not everyone has an easy time finding love. That's why singles events tend to be very popular and so many people go on so many first dates. Some relationships work, and some don’t. Most societies encourage people to find love, but one oppressive dystopian future demands it, damning those who are unable to couple to a fate worse than being alone. That disturbing worldview is the premise for "The Lobster," in which finding a mate is far from optional.

David (Colin Farell) checks himself into the Hotel, a place where single people are given thirty days to find a partner. If they succeed, they are celebrated and sent to a happy life of tranquility. If they fail, they are turned into an animal of their choosing. As a way of extending their stay, guests at the Hotel take to the forest, where they hunt for Loners, those who have escaped and choose to live alone away from society.

Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film in 2010 for "Dogtooth," the story of three adult children who are taught so many incorrect and untrue things by their possessive parents to keep them from ever leaving the house. This film pairs well with that one, expanding such a frightening mindset into a whole community. It's a fervently engaging and unsettling concept that plays itself out very interestingly, finding people at their worst as they struggle to stay alive and to survive in this harsh reality.

Farell is an intriguing choice to play the lead of this dark, dark comedy, tempering his enthusiasm to create an unfriendly, matter-of-fact man set on achieving his goals without much drama. Rachel Weisz serves as an effective narrator, humorously detailing David's thoughts and adding her opinions to his experience. John C. Reilly, Ben Wishaw, and Jessica Barden contribute memorably as other guests at the hotel, and Olivia Colman and Léa Seydoux both turn in strong performances as the quietly tyrannical rulers of the Hotel guests and the Loners, respectively. Calling this film a comedy disregards its extremely troubling nature, though moments are considerably more wickedly entertaining than “Dogtooth,” while its effects aren't quite as haunting or potent. Still, it's a massively interesting film which paints a truly horrifying picture of what dating could become if it gives in too much to what society wants and expects.

B+

Movie with Abe: Dough

In case you missed it, head over to Jewcy to read my take on "Dough," which opened last week and tells the story of a kosher bakery in London with a special ingredient. I enjoyed it a lot - click here to read the review!

Movie with Abe: A Bigger Splash

A Bigger Splash
Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Released May 4, 2016

Vacation – or holiday, as it is called in Europe – can mean many things. Even those on the same trip or in the same place may have completely different perspectives on the time they are spending away from the real world. There is a state of mind that comes with being purposely cut off from regular routines that can lead people to do crazy things they would otherwise not do simply because the repercussions are not the same and they are not messing with their normal lives. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” is an expression for a reason, and it applies to so many locales.

Fiennes and Swinton in the film
“A Bigger Splash” finds two of its protagonists, Marianne (Tilda Swinton) and Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts), living peacefully in Pantelleria, an Italian island described by those involved with the film as a gateway between Europe and Africa, attached to the former but more similar in culture to the latter. Marianne is a singer who has recently had surgery on her throat. As a result, flashbacks to scenes of her very loud career contrast strongly with her present state of silence. Record producer Paul doesn’t make much more noise, and the two spend their time together relaxing and working, far from the hubbub of metropolises. The arrival of their boisterous friend Harry (Ralph Fiennes) and his young daughter Penelope (Dakota Johnson) means an unwelcome infusion of drama, energy, and excess that disrupts the calm serenity of their lives.

Swinton discusses the film
This film, which serves as a remake of sorts of the 1969 film “La Piscine,” is not heavy on plot. Its primary focus is on the relationships between its characters, a complicated dynamic for just four people. Marianne and Harry used to date, and the fact that Harry introduced Paul to his new girlfriend has only increased his jealousy and inability to get over her. His recently discovered daughter certainly catches Paul’s eye, and there are even undertones that the promiscuous Harry is sexually attracted to the daughter he never knew for most of her life. Away from the prying eyes of society, there is no need for judgment, but there is still an enormous amount of awkwardness to be experienced, with foreboding secret feelings ready to bubble over. Even Marianne’s celebrity status merely means respect from those who recognize her rather than constant harassment by paparazzi.

Guadagnino discusses the film
Discussing the fact that this film and his next project are based on existing material, director Luca Guadagnino shares an uncommon sentiment: there is too much emphasis put on the value of originality. There is no issue with reusing stories and characters because there is also no limit to the level of creativity possible. Some defining aspects, like Marianne’s inability to speak, weren’t even in the original conception of the film, yet the process of making it led to an energizing and intriguing way of looking at a character defined by her voice when she can’t speak.

Fiennes discusses the film
Swinton is an actress known for challenging and bizarre roles ranging from “We Need to Talk About Kevin” to “Snowpiercer,” and here she turns in what may well be her most normative performance yet. She does a masterful job with pointed looks and deeply emotive mannerisms of conveying all that Marianne wants to say but either cannot – or chooses not to – say. Schoenarts, who recently appeared in “The Danish Girl,” keeps his native accent and, just as much as Swinton, lets unspoken long glances seem volumes. Contrasting them deeply is the usually mellow and villainous Fiennes, who speaks more than everyone else in the film combined, incessantly going on about his many exploits and conquests to an uninterested audience. Guadagnino reveals that Fiennes was cast because of his talkative turn in “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” a role in which Fiennes’ character lets his ego motivate him to a standard of professionalism rather than just boast. Johnson follows her more silent costars in saying less, and her limited verbal interactions are all the more fascinating and poignant because their inconsistencies indicate just how much of an enigma she really is, seemingly so mature one moment and childlike the next.

The film's poster
This film has a certain dazzling look and feel that takes the utmost advantage of its destination setting. The actors describe how the physical beauty of the place was complemented by strong winds and an air that doesn’t come through on screen but which added immensely to the experience of making the film. Its tone is initially casual and in no rush to get anywhere, and it experiences some strange shifts throughout that make it immensely intriguing if not completely satisfying.

B