Ed's Review Dot Com

Grove Hill Productions, Hydraulx, Strange Matter Films,

Michael Shannon, Katy Mixon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Kathy Baker, Ray McKinnon, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Robert Longstreet, Guy Van Swearingen, Tova Stewart, Natasha Randall, Scott Knisley, Ron Kennard

Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) is a construction worker with a lot of debt, a wife, and little girl who’s deaf. Curtis feels a strong responsibility to his family, and is trying to protect them and take care of them. But he’s having strange and dreadful nightmares of a coming storm threatening their lives, and the lives of the entire community. To protect the family, Curtis decides to build a storm shelter in the back yard, borrowing money on his home, and investing all his time in building a shelter to save them all. But when Curtis was a little boy, his mother was diagnosed with severe mental problems and spent her life in a mental institution. Curtis was raised by his father. So his first thought is that maybe it’s a mental issue, and seeks help. Knowing it’s hard on his family, still he feels like protecting his family is the most important thing in life.

This is a Sundance Film Festival film, so naturally it’s a bit slow and plodding, and the characters are well developed. It’s also a thoughtful film. The ending may not be what everyone wants, as it leaves it open for you to interpret what’s really going on, but Michael Shannon is perfect in the role of the troubled guy trying to do right, while fearful that he’s losing his mind. He doesn’t overplay it, but is practically perfect in his approach to the role. His wife is played by Jessica Chastain who is also a very good casting choice. She is long suffering, and really loves him, but is not sure how to handle the situation. When it comes to a crisis, I would love to have her on my side, as she handles it like a pro. The relationships in this movie are well developed, and we feel the pain that they are going through trying to make sense of what is going on.

This is a very well done indy picture, and one that was very worth watching. I highly recommend this if you like movies that make you think, and have really good character development. I thought they did an excellent job on this picture, especially Michael Shannon, who I thought gave a stellar performance that I can’t say enough about.

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Dreamworks SKG, Reliance Entertainment, Participant Media

Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Ahna O’Reilly, Allison Janney, Anna Camp, Cicely Tyson, Mike Vogel, Sissy Spacek

Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) is an aspiring writer in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963 in the middle of the civil rights movement. She is writing a column giving household hints, but she has an idea of writing a book based upon the recollections and stories of her maid, looking at the life of a black woman working for a white family. As time goes by, more and more of the maids risk their very lives by talking to her and telling their thoughts and feelings, and the extreme hardships they had to go through every day. The times were changing around them, yet they became caught up in the change, as the book showing the dark side of life in the south became a bit hit.

Based on a real book, this is a very touching film. I’m not sure I’ve seen anything from the opposite viewpoint, of what it was like to be on the other side of the fence. These ladies raised white children while their own were being kept by someone else. They could have been filled with hatred and despised their “employers” but due to deep religious beliefs taught the children as best they could and tried to teach the children values in spite of their parents. Then the children would grow up and become just like their parents. It must have been difficult to watch. It’s good to realize that not all people carried the racist views from the hurt of the Civil War through generation after generation. There are good and bad people of all classes and colors and races. But it is a shame that these people had to live through the kind of treatment they were often exposed to. I really enjoyed this film. It was thoughtfully filmed and very touching. It has a great story and is well worth watching. There is a good reason it did very well in the theaters because it is a stunning film. It’s definitely worth renting if you haven’t had the opportunity to see it yet. Emma Stone was wonderful in her role, as were all the other characters. Sissy Spacek was a really good addition to the film, even though she had a really unusual role. All in all, this is a really good film. It’s a little long at 146 minutes, but it flies by and this is a film that ought to be on everybody’s watch list. If you haven’t caught it, you should.

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Brace Cove Productions, Cottonwood Pictures, Plan B Entertainment

Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken, Fiona Shaw, Joanna Going, Kari Matchett, Kimberly Whalen, Laramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan

This is an artistic film, with huge ambition. There are tons of very visually stunning scenes, that appear unrelated, then we alternate from scenes from a grown man, Jack(Sean Penn), who is alone, reminiscing on his childhood,and his relationship between him and his siblings, and his father (Brad Pitt) who is very strict, a realist, and wants to raise tough manly sons, so he is quite a bit cruel and abusive, while still seeking strength from his boys, and a mother (Jessica Chastain) who is a dreamer, and still with a childlike innocence. Jack is trying to seek meaning in life and is trying to find a way somewhere in between mother and father.

This is definitely a “zero star” or “ten star” film. It seems to be split between lovers and haters. The problem with the film is that it’s perhaps overly symbolic, and nothing much goes on. The first 40 minutes or so of the film is just imagery of the creation of the universe, dueling dinosaurs, deserts, fish, etc, that look really great, but there is no real purpose. (Ok, that’s not true, there is a “meaning of life” type purpose I’m sure, but everyone has to sit through this beautiful imagery with no story part before the film even begins, and many people, I’m sure, walked out before the story began.)

Then when the story begins, we are barraged with little snippets of of conversations and moments that seem random. What do we know? Well, we know that one of the brothers died when he was 19, and none of them really got over it. Yes, I get that we’re viewing grown up Jack’s memories, and memories are fragmented, but movies typically tell a story, which this one really doesn’t. When we finally figure out what’s going on, suddenly we’re thrown back in the visual imagery with people walking around on a beach. The ending FINALLY comes up (after 2 hours and 15 minutes) and there’s absolutely no ending that I can see.

I can truly understand the people who love this film. It’s poetic, visually stunning, and you can make anything you want out of it. In fact, one guy made the comment that you see what you take in with you. If you’re looking for a Christian movie, it’s a Christian movie. Like wise if you’re Hindu or a nature lover, or a relationship councilor, that’s what you get out of it. Since the film starts with a quote from the book of Job in the Bible, I think that’s a hint to what the movie maker meant. In the quote, Job is question how God could allow all this bad stuff to happen to him, and God is answering that Job does not understand the scope of the creation of the galaxy, and the immensity of the universe and that Job is just a small speck in the scheme of things. Perhaps, that’s what he was going for. To show us, that Jack’s life, as difficult as it may have been for him, was just a small part compared to the history of the Universe. Likewise, I could be completely off my rocker and it’s about circus clowns. Who knows.

I did not rate this very high on my rating scale because I was really fidgeting an bored through the first 45 minutes. This is one movie I really, really, really wanted to turn off. But in order to review it, I have to watch it, so I forged through. Then when the story of the 1950’s family began, finally, I started to get interested and thought there might be a story in there finally. But I was disappointed again, as I didn’t get any meat out of it. It was like watching the Cliff Notes version of a story. Then more strange images and it was done. It felt like 10 hours instead of 2 1/4 and I certainly wouldn’t want to go through it again to see what I missed. But I know tons of people are going to love this.

It’s been compared frequently to 2001 A Space Odyssey, which I can see the comparison. 2001 was a film that did not give you any answers either, and you can bring whatever you want out of it. But 2001 I would rate as a 5 star film because though it was artistic and mystical, it had a great story in it. The “thought inducing” parts of what was the bigger meaning of the movie was an add on to the great story and a benefit that kept us talking about it for months and years afterwards. This doesn’t have the same kind of story to pique your interest. After this one is over I just felt used and ripped off.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog