Movie with Abe: In a Valley of Violence

In a Valley of Violence
Directed by Ti West
Released October 21, 2016

The western is a genre defined by violence. The climactic scene of any great western involves a fateful shootout in which the hero must defend his town or way of life from an enemy who threatens that. Even if the hero espouses nonviolence and attempts to resolve the situation diplomatically, inevitably guns come into play. A valley of violence is just the kind of place that should be found in a western, and Ti West’s involving, creative take on the classic story of a good man riding into town and being forced to clean up the mess that disguises itself as law and order has a most fitting title.

Paul (Ethan Hawke) is first introduced with his loyal dog as he stops to help a destitute preacher eager for aid in the middle of the desert, and, seeing his attempts at deception, robs him of his weapon and his supplies, warning him that they should not cross paths again. The drifter and his dog wander into the town of Denton, and it takes man of few words Paul little time to clash with Gilly (James Ransone), who gets away with just about anything on account of his father being the sheriff (John Travolta). After one of the town’s innkeepers, Mary-Anne (Taissa Farmiga), whose sister and fellow innkeeper Ellen (Karen Gillan) finds herself romantically tethered to Gilly, takes a liking to Paul, he realizes that this brief stopover in Denton will be far more permanent and impactful than he had originally planned.

This film is in many ways a conventional western, but West’s take on it is also highly satirical and funny. Violence comes to Paul without him trying to attract it, and the bad guys are almost asking to be taken out as they walk all over their town and the people in it. Mary-Anne personifies goodness even more than Paul, and Ellen represents an in-between based mainly on her poor outlook on the world. Travolta’s sheriff knows how he likes to keep his town, and an unruly son who won’t listen to anyone is, in his mind, far better than a reckless random citizen or visitor who doesn’t play by the rules.

Hawke, who scored an Oscar nomination for “Boyhood” and was at serious risk of just playing the same part over and over again, finds a fabulous role in Paul, painting him as a carefree cowboy, just seeking to pass through with his own signature style. Farmiga and Gillan are both terrific, and Ransone has a superb frenetic energy that makes him just the right level of absurd. Travolta offers a detached take on the sheriff, just trying to get by without any ruckus. This entertaining, enthralling western spins a standard tale into something far more enticing with witty dialogue, strong cinematography and framing, and excellent use of a talented and capable cast.

B+

NYFF Spotlight: The Lost City of Z

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 54th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 30th-October 16th.

The Lost City of Z
Directed by James Gray
NYFF Closing Night Selection

No matter when it takes place, there is a certain excitement and sense of wonder that comes with exploration. In the present day, technology has advanced to the point where lands are no longer uncharted and travel from continent to continent takes almost no time. A century ago, however, there was still much to be learned about different regions of the world. In 1906, one British explorer mapping the Amazon came across what he thought might be the remnants of a civilization far older than his own and began a lifelong quest for answers that could greatly alter the findings of recorded human history.

Tasked with following the path of a river in Brazil to help quell international tensions in the region, eager young soldier Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) is astounded by what he finds at the farthest reach of his journey: pottery in the middle of the jungle that indicates a people once lived there. Returning to his family in Europe, Fawcett spends minimal time with his wife Nina (Sienna Miller) and the children he barely gets to know, focused instead on going back to the Amazon in search of what he calls the “Lost City of Z” with equally curious fellow explorer Henry Costin (Robert Pattinson) at his side, charging ahead despite dubious support back home and a lack of belief that what they are looking for – a primitive civilization potentially more advanced than their own – could even exist.

Gray’s film runs a staggering two hours and twenty minutes, covering Fawcett’s twenty-year obsession with his fabled lost city, interrupted by the advent of World War I and eventually passed on to his eldest son Jack (Tom Holland). Much of the film’s runtime is spent on the river or in the jungle itself, as a white European does his best to seem nonimperialist and pay the societies they encounter a respect rarely afforded to them by people with his color of skin. Fawcett is a man far ahead of his time, undeterred by the limited thinking of his peers or the real dangers that lie ahead. It’s a compelling story that doesn’t often match its excitement in its presentation, finding solid moments on which to coast but not recreating that same enticement for the rest of the time. The cast, led by a determined Hunnam, do their job well, but the extraordinary charisma and sense of humor displayed by Gray in a press conference following the film are sadly seldom seen in this sometimes underwhelming epic.

B

NYFF Spotlight: Elle

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 54th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 30th-October 16th.

Elle
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
NYFF Screenings

Paul Verhoeven is a Dutch director who has been making movies for over forty years. Sci-fi hits “Robocop” and “Total Recall” were relatively well-received in the United States, and the quality of his films went severely downhill from there with mixed reviews for “Basic Instinct,” “Starship Troopers,” and “Hollow Man,” and the truly terrible “Showgirls” in between. He made a critical comeback in 2008 by returning to his home country to make the campy Holocaust thriller “Black Book,” which most except this critic liked, and, fortunately, Verhoeven has now directed his finest film to date, an exceptional character study in French.

In the first scene of “Elle,” Michèle (Isabelle Huppert) is brutally attacked and sexually assaulted by an unknown assailant. Wary of the police because of negative treatment she received when, years earlier, her father was arrested for perpetrating horrific crimes, Michèle keeps the assault to herself and immediately returns to work as the head of a video game company. As she navigates relationships with all the men in her life, including her son Vincent (Jonas Bloquet), her ex-husband Richard (Charles Bering), her best friend’s husband Robert (Christian Berkel), and her attractive married neighbor Patrick (Laurent Lafitte), she takes her own steps to find the man who attacked her and take control of her life.

At a NYFF press conference after the film, Verhoeven noted that this film couldn’t be made in America. Though adapted from a French novel by American screenwriter David Birke, this is a distinctly European film that pushes boundaries in a number of ways. It’s far from a typical revenge story, and its extensive use of sexuality amplifies and makes it extremely layered and complex. There are a staggering number of plotlines all in focus at the same time, and it’s a magnificently functional film that gives devoted attention to all of its characters, no matter how minimal.

Huppert, who is anchoring this film and another NYFF selection, “Things to Come,” is exceptionally suited for this role, self-assured and confident in some moments and completely vulnerable and susceptible to those around her at others. Most of all, she seizes on the film’s unexpected opportunities for humor in her perception of those with whom she interacts. She is surrounded by a tremendous ensemble, including all four men previously mentioned, Anne Consigny as Michèle’s best friend and business partner Anna, and Alice Isaaz as Vincent’s monstrous pregnant girlfriend Josie. This is far from a conventional film, but the tremendous combination of a highly skilled and entertaining cast, a sharp script, and attentive direction make this a very creative, memorable, and engaging film.

B+

NYFF Spotlight: 20th Century Women

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 54th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 30th-October 16th.

20th Century Women
Directed by Mike Mills
NYFF Screenings

An expression like “20th Century Women” suggests that every century creates a certain type of woman. The expectations and roles of the female in American life have changed over the years, and the twentieth century was definitely dynamic enough that each decade could have its own type of woman. Mike Mills’ very fun new film finds one very singular independent woman doing her best to raise her teenage son and, in doing so, seeks the assistance of two extremely different “20th century women” to ensure that he enters the real world of adulthood with his head screwed on straight and a proper outlook on life.

Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening) is a woman who knows how she likes things. At age forty, she gave birth to a son, Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), and tries to teach him values as a single mother. She rents out two rooms in their Santa Barbara home, one to a carpenter, William (Billy Crudup), who does most of his work on the house itself, and the other to a hip young artist, Abbie (Greta Gerwig). When she realizes that she is not totally capable of guiding Jamie through life, she enlists the help of Abbie and Jamie’s friend Julie (Elle Fanning), who sleeps over every night yet refuses to indulge a sexual relationship with her best bud, to raise her son and steer him in the right direction.

Mills’ previous film was the wonderful “Beginners,” which in 2011 won Christopher Plummer a Best Supporting Actor for playing a gay widower who comes out at the age of seventy-five, based on Mills’ own father. That film was full of whimsical narrations to frame the story in a creative way, and his latest project uses delightful title cards to fill in the histories of its main characters and, occasionally, to cite works of literature that have influenced them. It all contributes to a wholly entertaining and enjoyable experience with some truly memorable characters.

Bening is already generating Oscar buzz for her portrayal of a mother passionate about what she wants to do and completely unaware of how she is perceived by the rest of the world, a very focused and funny performance. Gerwig plays a role similar to the one she usually has but fits in well with the ensemble, as does Fanning, who, at age eighteen, has already delivered her share of strong turns. Crudup and Zumann round out a very talented cast, all of whom are clearly having fun in this energetic, heartwarming, and sincerely funny film.

B+

NYFF Spotlight: The Settlers

Earlier this week, I wrote up a lengthy piece about "The Settlers," a layered documentary playing at the New York Film Festival about Israeli settlements. Head over to Jewcy to read the article and visit the NYFF page to learn more about the film.

NYFF Spotlight: Aquarius

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 54th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 30th-October 16th.

Aquarius
Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho
NYFF Screenings

Most people live in a few places over the course of their lives, moving from one city to another, or even crossing state and international lines as they go through different stages, steps, and careers. Some do stay in the same city or town their entire lives, and later in life, even those who have moved frequently often remain in one place as they get older. It’s not easy to persuade someone who has spent years in the same house or apartment to consider relocating, and such attempts to do so tend to be futile and only provoke further stubbornness.

In “Aquarius,” Clara (Sonia Braga) is first introduced at age thirty, partying in 1980 and celebrating the seventieth birthday of her favorite aunt. Her husband thanks all those in attendance for supporting the family as she has battled cancer the previous year, and the film then jumps ahead to the present day, when Clara, retired after a successful career of writing music, is the sole remaining resident of the famed Aquarius building. The construction company sends smiling emissaries to knock on her door with a colorful brochure about their plans once the final obstacle in their way is removed, which encourages her to stand her ground and defend the home that she wants to continue calling her own.

Clara is interviewed as soon as the film arrives at the present by an intrepid journalist, who asks her, among other things, how she feels about the Internet and music being so readily available. Her answer is boiled down in a headline to “I love MP3s,” but it does represent an adjustment to modernity that many in her field of her age wouldn’t normally make. Clara maintains positive relationships with her adult children and plenty of friendships, and staying in her home is just another element of continuing to live a rich life and experience the world as she desires. She’s a formidable lead character.

Braga is a respected Brazilian actress who appeared in a handful of American films thirty years ago and plays a major role in the new Netflix series “Marvel’s Luke Cage.” Braga, who is hardly wanting for memorable parts, has found a career-topping role in Clara, and she responds with exuberance and commitment, carrying the film with her modest and confident energy. The film runs two hours and twenty-two minutes but remains engaging due to an impressive reliance on its story and its actors to take the film wherever it needs to go, which proves more than worthwhile.

B+

Movie with Abe: Do Over

Do Over
Directed by Ryan Francis
Released October 11, 2016

Who wouldn’t want to have a second shot at getting it right the first time? That sentiment could apply to nearly anything in life, but in this case, it’s all about losing your virginity on prom night. While hardly the most sophisticated subject, this comedy doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not, laying all its cards on the table as four friends who haven’t necessarily gone too far try to recapture the glory of high school and rewind their sex lives back to where they started, for whatever it may be worth.

“Do Over” opens in a bar with a long conversation among reunited friends. Sean (Drew Seeley) has just moved back to his hometown after making it big in the tech industry, and he is warmly greeted by his old friends Anthony (Jonathan Bennett), Ryan (Zack Lively), and Angela (Amy Paffrath). Their conversation is full of nostalgia for a time long gone since the other three haven’t moved very far since then, and it naturally turns to the fateful night where they all lost their virginity. Egged on by Angela, Anthony and Ryan decide to contact the women they slept with for a second shot, and Sean can’t resist the opportunity to contemplate reconnecting with Gina (Gina Field), who he still can’t stop thinking about after thirteen years.

What ensues is a silly series of interactions as the three men search for the women they aren’t so sure they wowed. A combination of overeager matches all too willing to engage spiritually, awkward attempts to restart relationships, and shocking revelations that cause immense soul-searching leads the three men in totally different directions. It may not be the most intellectual or complicated film, but it is a fun, often entertaining, and generally enjoyable riff.

B-

NYFF Spotlight: Personal Shopper

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 54th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 30th-October 16th.

Personal Shopper
Directed by Olivier Assayas
NYFF Screenings

Kristen Stewart has been acting regularly for the past fifteen years and is one of the most well-known young actresses in Hollywood. After starring in the “Twilight” series, she became more famous for running her fingers through her hair than for delivering serious performances. All that changed in 2014, when she became the first actress to win France’s equivalent of the Oscar for her turn in “Clouds of Sils Maria.” It’s fair to say that expectations are high for her follow-up collaboration with the director who took her there, Olivier Assayas.

After playing a personal assistant in her César-winning role, Stewart shifts gears to portray Maureen, a personal shopper for an obnoxious and rarely-seen starlet. Her aimless trips around Europe to pick out clothes are contrasted by the deep commitment she exhibits in her other role as a medium, attempting to connect with her late twin brother’s spirit in his former home. There is an aura of darkness that follows Maureen even when she is not spending the night alone in a house she hopes is haunted, and when she begins receiving invasive text messages from an anonymous number, her loneliness compels her to answer them to try to create some connection to whoever it is who is tormenting her, living or dead.

Described in press releases and summaries as a ghost story, this film suffers from a severe lack of defined tone. Assayas, in a press conference following the film at its NYFF press screening, compares it to “Clouds of Sils Maria” and defines it as a film more obviously dealing with the subject, this time in physical form and with Maureen’s obsession with the undead. Billed as a psychological thriller, this film attempts to create horror out of the everyday and the mundane in a manner similar to “Black Swan.” The result is an intriguing but scattered combination.

This film, which won the award for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival and is slated for release in France in December and in the United States in March, is unlikely to win Stewart a second César. While her performance is certainly grown-up, it doesn’t feel nearly as lived-in. The film’s title is particularly unsatisfying, since it seems an odd choice in which to frame Maureen’s life. There are layers of complexity buried within the title and the film, but its presentation leaves much to be desired.

B-

Movie with Abe: The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation
Directed by Nate Parker
Released October 7, 2016

Slavery is a truly awful part of America’s history, and its formative role in the early years of the country make it a frequent film subject. In 1915, director D.W. Griffith released the groundbreaking epic “The Birth of a Nation,” which, among other things, glorified the Ku Klux Klan. That formative film has strong cinematic qualities but a message that now goes against everything this nation stands for. That title is ripe for a more modern and productive reinterpretation, and that’s exactly what Nate Parker’s chronicle of Nat Turner’s slave rebellion aims to do.

Nat (Parker) is taught to read by the owner of his plantation as a child and grows up with a strong knowledge of the Bible and a knack for preaching. As he does his best to begin a life with a fellow slave, Cherry (Aja Naomi King), he finds himself taken to numerous plantations by the new master of the plantation, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), to preach to slaves treated inhumanely by their plantation overseers and inspire them to lead more obedient lives. As he attempts to spread the word of God, Nat soon realizes that those words have been corrupted by those who seek to legitimize evil and cannot stand idly by and watch it happen any longer.

Parker’s film presents a harrowing story of one man’s representative experience during a dark period in American’s history. Samuel is purposely not cast as a particularly harsh or vindictive white man, meant instead to symbolize the collective guilt of all those who would indulge in the shameful practice of slavery and the dehumanization of people based purely on the color of their skin. Nat, for the most part, does what he is told and feigns respect to those who have power over them, but the inner fury he possesses that he eventually externalizes is burning and building for the entirety of the film and his story.

Like other films set in the same era, “The Birth of a Nation” includes a handful of truly disturbing scenes that show the horrifying and unbearable misery suffered by those forced to endure slavery. Some of the staged speeches feel forced, but the film rallies for a powerful and hopeful story of rebellion anchored by Parker’s energy. It doesn’t quite have the staggering impact of “12 Years of Slave,” but it certainly has its own unique thunderous nature that makes it an important and momentous film.

B+

Movie with Abe: Denial

In between New York Film Festival screenings, I had the chance to see the new film "Denial" about an American historian accused of libel by a noted Holocaust denier. Check out my review over at Jewcy.

NYFF Spotlight: Things to Come

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 54th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 30th-October 16th.

Things to Come
Directed by Mia Hansen-Love
NYFF Screenings

Those who teach as a profession have countless opportunities throughout their lives to learn lessons, and they incorporate what they have experienced into the way that they pass knowledge along to others. There is often just as much about how to navigate the world that evades them as they are able to grasp, and that is part of the reason that they make such great film subjects. Nathalie (Isabelle Huppert) is a high school philosophy teacher whose prime motivator is to encourage others to use every moment to think. As Nathalie faces certain personal challenges at home, all aspects of her life come together to cause her to contemplate what she really wants and needs.

“Things to Come,” a film that boasts an interesting title that could have many meanings, starts from an intriguing vantage point. Nathalie is a lifelong intellectual married to a man who could well be described as the same, and it’s clear that her two children have gotten used to her turning every meal or family interaction into a chance to think critically. Her elderly mother is deteriorating in a way that seems expressly designed to cause Nathalie anguish and constantly interrupt every quiet moment she finds. Students are protesting outside the school and trying to bar entry to other students, representing a very real threat to the state of education and the stimulation of the mind that Nathalie does not take lightly. The return of a former student who has become a successful writer in his own right offers Nathalie some solace that she has had the impact she hoped to have on at least one person.

Huppert is an established actress who continues to make new movies on a regular basis, even appearing in another major NYFF selection this year. She projects a certain aura, one that commands respect even though she rarely raises her voice and is not far from physically intimidating. Director Mia Hansen-Love is at the beginning of her career, but with only four feature films to date, has already established herself as a filmmaker committed to telling rich stories about the relationships between families and lovers. Pairing the two makes this film a strong follow-up to “The Father of My Children” and “Goodbye First Love,” proving that Huppert has plenty of superb roles left to play and that Hansen-Love is just getting started.

B+

NYFF Spotlight: Julieta

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 54th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 30th-October 16th.

Julieta
Directed by Pedro Almodovar
NYFF Screenings

At a certain point, filmmakers can achieve a level of fame and prestige that inspires creative people to work with them based on their reputations alone and audiences to go see the films just because their names are on the poster. Pedro Almodovar is one such auteur, marking his twentieth feature film after making his debut thirty-six years ago. Almodovar is an internationally-renowned, Oscar-winning writer and director known for his focus on sexuality in all forms, always delving deep into the rich characters he creates. His latest film presents another strong representation of women in its examination of the life of protagonist Julieta Arcos in two distinctly separate parts.

Julieta (Emma Suarez) is first introduced in a committed relationship with Lorenzo (Dario Grandinetti), planning a move from Spain to Portugal. After she runs into her daughter Antia’s childhood best friend on the street, she cannot shake the feelings of regret that come up due to her completely nonexistent relationship with her adult daughter. As Julieta tries to return to elements of her life from before Antia left, Julieta’s story unfolds with a different actress (Adriana Ugarte) playing her younger self, representing a completely different time full of possibility and optimism, with a far less mature Julieta devoid of any sense of where life will take her when she meets Antia’s father Xoan (Daniel Grao) on a train one snowy night.

Casting two actresses to play Julieta at the start of her adult life and far into it is a masterful and extremely effective choice since the two really are different people. The older Julieta has made something of her life and shows it in the way that she dresses and carries herself, while the younger Julieta is a starry-eyed explorer with no particular direction or plans to become something. Xoan has a profound effect on her transformation, and Antia’s birth is equally significant. Almodovar’s latest great opus, adapted from Alice Munro’s book of short stories “Runaway,” deals with the nature of love, infidelity, and happiness as they all intertwine to create an engaging and memorable story about a magnetic woman. Suarez and Ugarte are both equally excellent, contributing personality and poise to what makes Julieta who she is throughout her life. Grao and Grandinetti provide just the right kind of support, enabling their female counterparts to remain the stars of their own story, just the latest expertly crafted vision from the reliable Almodovar.

B+

NYFF Spotlight: I, Daniel Blake

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 54th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 30th-October 16th.

I, Daniel Blake
Directed by Ken Loach
NYFF Screenings

There are few people anywhere who would argue that “the system” is set up to help the less fortunate. Those who are disadvantaged or experience hardship are not set up for success since they have countless hurdles to overcome in order to get the restitution that they are entitled to, and it feels doubly miserable since they are already suffering. Such stories are far from inspiring, but told in a lighthearted way, they can toe the line between drama and comedy to create an affecting and endearing narrative.

Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) is a widower who, after having a heart attack, has been deemed unfit to return to work by multiple doctors. During the assessment that opens the film, he is asked numerous questions about his mental state and his limbs, yet the test does not address the problem preventing him from returning to work: his heart. Denied compensation based on medical need, he is forced to look for jobs he knows he cannot accept since the only option is to collect unemployment while showing that he is actively trying to find work. In his frustrated search, Daniel meets Katie (Hayley Squires), a woman in a similar situation trying hard to support her two young children despite all forces uniting to work against her prosperity.

Daniel might be considered a curmudgeon by some, but much of his behavior, like his inability to use a computer and his relentless efforts to get his slacker neighbor to take out the trash, makes him a sympathetic older man. The kindness that he shows to Katie and her children demonstrates that he wants to be helpful in some way, and his failure to share with them why he is not currently working is surely not accidental since he wants to feel relevant and needed by someone. He wants to be there for people and give of himself in his later years.

“I, Daniel Blake” comes from director Ken Loach, who is known for making the films that he wants to make and not adjusting his work to anyone else’s expectations. “Looking for Eric” was an interesting meditation on one man’s sense of himself, and this very simple, straightforward film with no flair of any kind follows that same format. This winner of the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival is a basic presentation of a man just trying to go on existing, and it’s a stirring, involving story that feels very universal.

B+

Movie with Abe: Sully

Sully
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Released September 9, 2016

There is an obvious appeal to dramatizing major unexpected events that were widely seen in the news across the world. As with recent releases like “Snowden,” people remember hearing about it or seeing it and they might also recognize the main player involved. This film’s tagline reads “The untold story of the miracle on the Hudson,” and makes sure that it is forever associated with the pilot who calmly and courageously diverted a flight after it was struck by birds and landed it on the Hudson River, saving all 155 passengers and crew on board.

“Sully” opens with its protagonist, Captain Chesley Sullenberger (Tom Hanks), having a nightmare about engine failure on his flight and crashing the plane into a New York City building. He has already performed his miracle act and is facing NTSB scrutiny for his water landing and assertions that, while he didn’t lose a single passenger or crew member, he could easily have landed at multiple area airports without incident. As he grapples with the notion that he might have done the wrong thing, extensive flashbacks reveal what really happened in visceral and astonishing detail.

“Sully” is the true story of an American hero, a man who could have panicked and in nearly all scenarios should not have been able to safely land his plane. Who better to bring that story to the big screen than director Clint Eastwood, who at eighty-six years old has directed his thirty-fifth film. Eastwood positions Sully as a seasoned, reasonable pilot with a unique ability to act under pressure, and subsequent assaults on his credibility only serve to further strengthen his respectability as lensed in this film. It might have been nice and informative to see some of Sully’s noted advocacy for pilot rights and treatment after this incident, but that’s not part of the particular story of heroism that Eastwood is trying to tell.

Hanks is a veteran actor with a history of tackling iconic roles, and this is a fitting career fiftieth film part for him. He brings a strong sense of duty and a striking physical resemblance with the aid of gray hair to the part of Sully, a truly likeable and respectable figure who puts everyone else before him. Aiding him in the cast is Aaron Eckhart as First Officer Jeff Skiles, who looks to Sully as an inspiration and offers him unconditional support throughout the entirety of their experience and the aftermath. Mike O’Malley and Jamey Sheridan stand out as formidable adversaries on the NTSB board, while Anna Gunn could have used a more substantial part worthy of her talents. The film focuses in on Sully and his experiences as they relate to this one flight, and the omission of much of his personal life or past serves to heighten the effectiveness of this one incident. The film is most striking and invigorating when recreating the run-up to the water landing and the “miracle” itself, a magnificent feat that feels impossibly real and incredibly enthralling as the centerpiece of this film.

B+

Movie with Abe: American Honey

American Honey
Directed by Andrea Arnold
Released September 30, 2016

A film’s runtime often has nothing to do with its content, but sometimes it can be telling. Data shows that films tend to be about two hours in length, on average, and therefore two hours and forty-three minutes can be considered a real outlier. What that means is either that little editing was done and much of the original footage was preserved, or that this is an epic story that requires time to be told. “American Honey” is not an action film or a period saga, but instead an immensely compelling exploration of one young woman’s freewheeling tour around the country with her entire future ahead of her.

Star (Sasha Lane) is first introduced hitchhiking on the side of a street with two young children to whom she acts as a mother despite not being all that much older than them. In the parking lot of a supermarket, she meets Jake (Shia LaBeouf), a free spirit with a wild look in his eyes who rides around in a van with a group of other aimless teenagers selling magazines under the leadership of the alluring, bossy Krystal (Riley Keough). Seeing a chance to get away from an abusive home and dead-end future, Star ditches her kids and boards the van en route to Kansas City and beyond, just hoping to experience something that will give her hope for what might lie ahead.

Star is a fascinating protagonist, defined by strong opinions about how people should be treated but rarely put to practical use in a consistent manner. She immediately tells a haughty Krystal that she can be trusted and then oversleeps her first morning on the job, and sabotages Jake’s strategy during a joint magazine sale attempt when she feels that his methods are untruthful and malignant. More than anything, Star doesn’t know who she wants to be yet, but this journey is all about the exploration and not having anyone tell her what she is supposed to do.

Lane is a true find, exhibiting a prickly spark very worthy of positive comparison to Katie Jarvis, the lead in director Andrea Arnold’s equally enticing “Fish Tank.” She makes it easy to root for her even if most of her decisions aren’t admirable or commendable. LaBeouf and Keough offer a marvelous kind of dazed support in their respective roles, both so committed to their work and just as insistent on living a casual, free-wheeling life filled with drugs and built on not putting down roots or accepting reality. The three of them define the film’s style, a magnificent road movie prone to musical outbursts and truly letting its plot take it in any direction at a moment’s notice. Like its protagonist, “American Honey” is a hypnotic, mesmerizing, immensely intriguing experience that leaves a lasting impression.

B+

Movie with Abe: Miss Stevens

Miss Stevens
Directed by Julia Hart
Released September 20, 2016

The line between teenager and adult is usually defined only by age, which doesn’t necessarily reflect one’s actual maturity. In school, adults often have the benefit of being teachers where the teenagers are students. Field trips are a fantastic opportunity for those lines to be blurred, especially when teachers and students stay in hotel rooms for conferences and competitions. “Miss Stevens” follows a seemingly put-together teacher whose life begins to unravel when she chaperones three teenagers on a trip to a drama competition that brings plenty of tensions to the surface.

Rachel Stevens (Lily Rabe) is initially introduced as a mild-mannered teacher who is the happy-go-lucky volunteer to go with students Margot (Lili Reinhart), Billy (Timothée Chalamet), and Sam (Anthony Quintal) to compete in a drama competition. Margot tells Miss Stevens how much they appreciate her coming, and things go considerably downhill from there as soon as they hit the road. Simple things like Miss Stevens not checking an orange light that comes on in her car lead to considerable delays, and her decision to drink multiple glasses of wine at dinner with her underage companions is just one indicator that Miss Stevens may not be as in control – or as grown up – as she seems to be or should be given her role.

This is a very simple story that never experiences too much excitement or emotion. Interactions occur and conversations takes place with little energy or emphasis, with no truly horrific developments or decisions made by any of the parties. A brewing friendship between Billy, who is already behind academically and is taking major medications, and Miss Stevens, threatens to cross an inappropriate line, and in this film’s small universe, not much stands in the way other than hotel room doors and just a little bit of common sense.

Rabe, who starred on ABC’s short-lived “The Whispers” and has been a long-term player on “American Horror Story,” has a likeable persona that serves her well as an endearing if certainly imperfect protagonist trying to figure out where her life has gone wrong and whether she’s revealed too much of herself on this educational outing. She has good support from the young actors opposite her and Rob Huebel as a potential love interest. The performers are decent but the film unfortunately doesn’t catch fire, chronicling as a moderately entertaining but forgetting journey.

B-

Movie with Abe: Sand Storm

Sand Storm
Directed by Elite Zexer
Released September 28, 2016

Israeli produces a number of movies each year and has managed to earn an impressive ten Oscar nominations in the Best Foreign Film category over the past sixty years. Each year, the winner of the Ophir, the Israeli Oscar, for Best Film goes on to be considered for the Oscar. Last week, “Sand Storm” won that honor, more than half a year after taking home the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema – Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival. “Sand Storm” represents what’s best about the Israeli cinema industry today: a portrait of diverse cultures and the complexities within them.

“Sand Storm” opens with one of its two protagonists, Layla (Lamis Ammar) driving with her father Suliman (Hitham Omari), switching back to the passenger seat when they approach their village. Layla is clearly a free spirit and her father is open-minded in his personal practice, but in their Bedouin village, they must maintain a certain traditional decorum. Involved with that is Suliman’s marriage to a new younger wife, an event that Layla’s mother Jalila (Ruba Blal-Asfor) must host. Both women stage their own rebellions against the oppression they experience from the males in their society, Layla in an overt manner as she tries to choose her own husband and Jalila more subtly as she wears the pain of silently suffering after working so hard to be a rock for her family for so many years.

The film’s poster features the image above of Layla with her hand over her boyfriend’s mouth, symbolizing a demand for women’s voices to be heard. This film does a strong job of extracting the energies of its two female protagonists in a deeply involving story of a tight-knit community bound by its ways. As Layla, Ammar exhibits a grand sense of self, not content to be confined to a gender role and set on determining her own life. It’s not always a showy performance but a consistently emotive one. Opposite her, Blal-Asfor internalizes Jalila’s struggle, conveying her deep pain that is now manifesting itself as anger and resentment more than anything. Omari also offers a complex performance that paints him at times as a modern, sympathetic figure and at others as an archaic, unyielding obstacle. Israeli director Zexer, who is Jewish, works with a multicultural crew to create a relevant and engaging film that represents yet another facet of Israel in cinema.

B+

Movie with Abe: Goat

Goat
Directed by Andrew Neel
Released September 23, 2016

Hazing is an unfortunate reality in today’s college world. Those who don’t rush fraternities or sororities (like this reviewer) might be spared, but the level to which people are humiliated and in many cases physically and emotionally harmed is truly disturbing. Those experiences are further compounded when a person who is the victim of hazing has gone through a previous trauma whose horrors are dredged up again every time some seemingly playful or harmless torment occurs. “Goat” dramatizes the experiences of author Brad Land, based on his 2005 memoir, as he survives a vicious attack and then relives it over and over again as he rushes his brother’s fraternity.

Brad (Ben Schnetzer) is first seen with a buttoned-up shirt and glasses, seeming far more composed and together than everyone else at the college party he is attending. He and his older brother Brett (Nick Jonas) function well together in that setting, but Brad makes the mistake of leaving the party alone and offering two strangers a ride home. Brad is brutally beaten and his car is stolen, and after a long recovery, he decides to begin school at the same college his brother attends, where the first and only activity option is to join the legendary fraternity Brett has already pledged.

This film assembles a deeply disturbing compilation of upsetting and demeaning pranks pulled by those who have survived their own “hell week” on the unsuspecting and all-too-willing freshmen desperate to join their ranks. The severe assault of highly off-putting events isn’t worth describing here, and its miserable nature is no fault of the film’s since all of this actually happens, whether or not it was specifically endured by the real Land. Where the film doesn’t work as well is in its constant definition of Brett as a friendly upperclassman who seems to object to the way things are done from the very start, making him little more than a bystander to his brother’s suffering.

Schnetzer is a great actor who delivered a terrific performance as the lead of the ensemble in “Pride.” Here, he puts on an American accent and grows his hair out to hide behind an aura of nervousness and nerdiness that doesn’t allow his portrayal to be as authentic as it could be. Pop star Jonas, whose casting in the film surely raised some eyebrows, is surprisingly well-suited for his role, even if it’s not particularly deep. This film shouldn’t be seen by anyone who is still traumatized by their own experiences being hazed, and for those not as familiar with the process, what the film accomplishes and concludes about its nature and effects isn’t really worth watching the misery either.

B-

Movie with Abe: Unless

Unless
Directed by Alan Gilsenan
TIFF Special Presentations

Having a home is something most people take for granted. Many things in a person’s life can change from time to time, but losing your home is a monumental event that can truly uproot everything, literally and metaphorically. That’s what makes the decision by one daughter of an established writer to live on the street and cut off all ties to anything that used to define her all the more staggering, since she has voluntarily cast off everything material in her life and willingly taken on a life most would never hope to have to experience.

University student Norah (Hannah Gross) is almost invisible the first time she is introduced, far less vocal than her two younger sisters, Christine and Natalie. Her mother, Reta (Catherine Keener) is a renowned author working on her next project, and she has an amicable relationship with her kindhearted father, Tom (Matt Craven). When Norah goes missing, her parents find her on the street outside a famous Toronto store with nothing more than a sign that reads “Goodness” in her hands. Norah refuses to speak, and not one among the multitude of visitors is able to convince her to do so. The lack of any explanation for Norah’s sudden shift in behavior sends her parents reeling as they search for answers that they cannot hope to find.

It’s an intriguing gamble to have a character remain silent for the majority of a film, and it’s not necessarily as impactful as it could be since there’s little context for how chatty she was beforehand. Her not saying anything speaks only so much since she barely had a chance to say anything at all. The film focuses heavily on the experiences of her mother as she contends with continuing her writing and translating while grappling with the seeming loss of her daughter. Keener is an accomplished actress who has tackled this kind of isolating role before in “War Story,” and while she does demonstrate tremendous commitment to the emotion of the role, it’s not her most commanding performance. Craven is properly cast as a background player without an overly substantial influence on the film. Gross turns in a solid portrayal that, again, would have meant more if the pre-homeless Norah had been more fully introduced. This film starts from an interesting vantage point and explores worthwhile territory, not quite reaching the potential it sets in getting to the root of its message about people and the world.

B-

Movie with Abe: Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?

Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?
Directed by Matt Cooper
Released September 16, 2016

Sex and violence are both hot topics that are overwhelmingly found in movies and television these days. Most would agree that there is far too much of both, and that they are usually portrayed in quite a gratuitous manner. There’s a new film out that doesn’t show much of either but focuses its storyline entirely on the battle between a need for sex and a need for guns. “Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?” is a silly but very amusing picture of one Texas town where one woman decided to take a stand against guns and knew just what to withhold to make her voice heard.

Jenna Keely (Andrea Anders) is happily married to Glenn (Matt Passmore) and acts as a stay-at-home mom to their two children, Sandy and Lance. When Lance brings a gun to school to show to his friend and it accidentally goes off, Jenna begins to think about the destructive, dangerous power of firearms and asks Glenn to get rid of his. When he refuses, she realizes that the only way to truly achieve change is to refuse Glenn something he desires – sex. Her approach catches on with other women in the two, pitting husbands against wives in a battle to determine how Rockford, Texas will truly be defined.

This film’s poster shows a man’s hand holding a gun that is twisted into the shape of a heart on its way to a woman’s hand gripping it from the other end. This is meant to be a comic portrayal of the gun control debate, taken to such a far extreme that it has to be laughed at. It’s the men who are more exaggerated as they think of nothing but sex and of their wives being ridiculous for deigning to be self-sufficient, and the women respond in kind by enjoying tormenting their husbands a little too much.

Anders is a fun choice to play Jenna, who has plenty of personality but is also by far the most sensible person in all of Rockford. She is ably supported by Lauren Bowles (“True Blood”), Christine Estabrook (“Desperate Housewives"), Fernanda Romero, and in a very vocal scene-stealing role, veteran actress Cloris Leachman as the women who rally behind her. Passmore (“The Glades”) has good company in Horatio Sanz, John Michael Higgins, and John Heard. Much of the events and the drama in the film is so over-the-top it’s impossible to take it seriously, but that’s also what makes it a fun and extraordinarily entertaining ride.

B+