Netflix And Chill: The Outfit (2022)

There are some films that suffer from the fact that they feel like stage plays, a showcase for actors without any real cinematic scale or flourishes. That isn't to say that those films are necessarily bad films. They just don't quite feel like full films. The Outfit often feels like a stage play, but it's not a bad film. In fact, it very much plays up to the idea of putting the quality of the screenplay and cast ahead of any unnecessary bells and whistles.

Mark Rylance plays Leonard, a tailor (actually no . . . he's a cutter, and there's a subtle difference between the two, as explained in the film) who has the misfortune of his shop being used by a group of mobsters. Trying to go about his business with the least amount of trouble, and giving due respect to those who view him as being beneath them, Leonard finds himself in real bother when Francis (Johnny Flynn) and Richie (Dylan O'Brien) make use of his store during a particularly eventful evening. Richie has been shot, and Richie is the son of the big boss, Roy (Simon Russell Beale). Everything will be fixed soon, however, as the two young men are about to uncover the identity of someone who has been informing on them. There's a rat, and everyone is a suspect, even Leonard's young shop helper, Mable (Zoey Deutch).

The feature debut from director Graham Moore, who also co-wrote the film with Johnathan McClain, this is a smart and sharp movie that impresses with the care taken at every turn, from the cast to the look of the whole thing, from the dialogue to the nicely-crafted plotting. There aren't any surprises here for people who have seen any of the many other films that wander through similar territory, but at no point to Moore and McClain feel as if they are trying to pull any kind of "gotcha" on viewers. They have faith in their tale, and faith in the people they have chosen to help tell it.

O'Brien and Flynn are a bit over the top in their roles, but it works well. They are the hot-headed youths who are used to having everything go their way, any problems being solved with threats or gunfire. I think both do a great job here, and they are nicely balanced out by the calm of Rylance, who is giving one his best turns in the lead role (and that is really saying something, considering how many great performances he has given us throughout his acting career). Beale is also much calmer, perfectly embodying the kind of person who knows that he doesn't have to shout or show off to get things done. He has held on to power for a long time, and everyone interacting with him knows the score. Deutch, the lone female for a large portion of the film, is enjoyably spirited and defiant, putting on a front while she (incorrectly?) assumes that she's not significant enough for any of the dangerous men to be bother about.

Yes, things need to keep running like precise clockwork to get to the ending that we get, but it never feels implausible. The characters stay true to how they are presented throughout, the backstories teased out through a number of conversations are intriguing snapshots of lives that have happened to converge at this exact time and place, and the whole film is just as unassumingly impressive as the lead character trying to stay safe at the heart of it.

A real treat, especially if you're one of the many sensible people who appreciate the talents of Rylance (and, to a lesser degree, the excellent O'Brien). You might call it . . . a cut above the rest.

8/10

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Prime Time: Bones And All (2022)

There might be some who would view Bones And All, a romantic drama that shows some people trying to live with a cannibalistic urge, and take the life lessons aspect of it to come up with the pithy alternative title of Hannibal Lecture, but I would be beyond that kind of pathetic attempt at an easy pun, of course.

Director Luca Guadagnino has made great use of a script by David Kajganich, adapting a novel by Camille DeAngelis, to deliver a film that feels impressively grim at times while also feeling very much like a typical Luca Guadagnino film. I find his work very often misses the mark slightly, but this is one of his better outings (although I must note here that I have sadly still to watch the much-praised Call Me By Your Name).

Taylor Russell plays Maren, a girl who has spent her lifetime moving around with, and being protected by, her father (André Holland, offscreen quickly enough, but also delivering some great voiceover work). Her father cannot stick around, however, and he leaves Maren with some advice and information. Traveling alone around the country, Maren meets others just like her, some that seem good (Lee, played by Timothée Chalamet) and some that seem like trouble (including Sully, played by Mark Rylance). Oh, I forgot to mention that Maren is overtaken sometimes by the urge to eat human flesh. Lee, Sully, and others also have the same condition, but not everyone views it as a problem.

The strangest thing about Bones And All, and I am going to assume that this was just me own brain causing problems, was the fact that it kept feeling like a Doctor Sleep offshoot to me. Some plot points are similar, although those same plot points can be found in many other movies, but it was the atmosphere and characters that somehow made me think I was watching something from a world written by Stephen King. I would love to hear from anyone who had a similar reaction, especially if this is a common observation. Otherwise, I will just chalk it up to another example of me being me.

Getting to what the movie is, instead of what my mind kept trying to make it, the cast all work well with the material. Russell is very good in the lead role, believably trying to cope with an unnatural appetite that others have spent time embracing. Chalamet isn’t bad, if less instantly convincing in his role (Chalamet often feels more like Chalamet than a credible new character), and Rylance plays his part so well that he casts a long shadow over most of the film, even without actually being onscreen for more than a handful of scenes. I have already complimented Holland, as the father who discovers his breaking point, and there are a number of effective turns from cast members only given a scene or two in which to make a strong impression. Michael Stuhlberg and David Gordon Green are two highlights, and Chloë Sevigny is another.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross create another great score, there’s clean and pleasing cinematography courtesy of Arseni Khachaturan, and every decision made allows for the more horrific moments to be presented in a way that shows restraint without complete shying away from the blood and violence (or the bones and all).

Although falling slightly between two stools, despite the best efforts of all involved, Bones And All is a strange and enjoyable drama that just happens to show people with some very peculiar dietary requirements. I liked it, but I am not sure who I would recommend it to.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Don't Look Up (2021)

People denying facts that are literally about to hit them in a major death-strike, a three word slogan rallying round those who decide to politicise a major problem for the entire human race, and media that is complicit in helping to keep the masses placid and uninformed. Don't Look Up is a comedy that foregoes subtlety in an attempt to present something that is horribly close to the truth of our present times.

Written and directed by Adam McKay (from a story co-created by David Sirota), who has made a number of superb comedies in the past decade that use humour to probe major societal problems with surgeon-like precision, this may be an obvious allegory for the many people trying to deny climate change, but it's also yet another McKay movie clearly showing how so many ills of our world are rooted in the same place as every evil, money. A news team (Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry) want to keep their audience happy for the ratings. A president (Meryl Streep) and her son (Jonah Hill) want to stay high in the polls, and nothing upsets people more than a potentially Extinction Level Event. There's also Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance), a Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg/Elon Musk amalgamation, a very rich man with just enough scientific knowledge, and smart people on his payroll, to think he has all the answers.

The two lead characters, however, are scientists. Kate Diblasky (Jennifer Lawrence) spotted comet, which is then named after her, and Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) helped to work out the trajectory of it. It is these two people who spend the movie trying to warn everyone of their impending doom, helped by Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), but hindered by so many other people who have their own take on things, in defiance of the truth.

As well as those already mentioned, this packed cast includes roles of varying sizes for Melanie Lynskey, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Himesh Patel, Michael Chiklis, Robert Joy, and Paul Guilfoyle. Everyone is doing great work here, but the leads are surprisingly perfect in their roles. DiCaprio is allowed to be a very nervy individual, prone to anxiety attacks and a lack of confidence whenever he is in the spotlight. Lawrence's character is less nervy, but also less "media-trained", which works against her trying to warn people of impending doom. She doesn't care about who people are, she doesn't care about who gets upset, and her spiky demeanour is very funny, especially when she is arguing against a typically couldn't-give-less-of-a-shit Hill (who is both the son of the POTUS, and her Chief Of Staff). Morgan is the old hand at playing the game, as frustrated as the other scientists, but able to think up more strategic options to get the message out there. Streep isn't bad, she's certainly a lot of fun, but her character is the one who suffers most from the writing. She's a bit inconsiderate, trying to spin things the best possible way, but the comedy would have been strengthened by making her a complete idiot who couldn't stop herself from saying the dumbest stuff every time she had an opportunity to talk to scientists and people making serious plans. I guess sometimes you can't write anything stranger/funnier than reality. Blanchett is excellent, all super teeth and hair, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by Perry working so brilliantly in his co-anchor role, showing a real talent for being able to play comedy well by simply playing it straight (unlike the style of histrionics on display with his Madea character). Lynskey is a sweet and calm presence whenever she's onscreen, Rylance is amusingly unsettling in his constant awkwardness, and Chalamet is a great addition to the second half of the movie, as sweet and calming as Lynskey, in a way. Grande enjoys herself, and has a very amusing main scene talking to a character played by Kid Cudi, Perlman is hilarious in his very small role, and Patel is, well, his character feels completely extraneous, but he's as good as ever.

There's a decent score by Nicholas Britell and a number of songs that work well in the soundtrack, although the best one is the fake "Justt Look Up" song by Grande, as well as excellent sound design throughout, but this is a film mostly about the visuals, from the first sighting of the comet to the unavoidable ending. It's also a film about having your own kind of faith, something that McKay makes a hell of a case for in the third act.

The news keeps telling us how we can do better in our daily lives, with recycling, going vegetarian, using our car less, etc. Don't Look Up serves as a reminder that individuals aren't the big problem. The big problem comes from those with the money, with the power, and it is reassuring to think that their long-term plan for money to buy their way out of everything is a delusion. Because it is. That's not to say that we shouldn't all play our part in trying to ensure that we avoid being the species to destroy the entire planet. It's just that, as well as doing our small household part, we really do need to do whatever it takes to create a massive shift away from the unrelenting damage being done by companies headed up by people who will never make enough money to satisfy them. The irony being that this review will be shared on Facebook and Twitter after I wrote it on my beloved Macbook Pro, and you can all choose to read it on your smartphone of choice. But at least I have never been flown by private jet to a climate change conference. So, y'know, everything in moderation.

But I digress. This is a great comedy that consistently stays on point when it comes to the serious issue at the heart of it (the nonsensical equality that has developed between opinion and facts). A lot of the cast are giving brilliant performances, with the two leads absolutely perfect in their roles, and McKay continues his run of great films that have started to make his filmography a real treat for fans of comedy and social commentary.

8/10

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Ready Player One (2018)

I had a lot of fun when I read the book of Ready Player One (written by Ernest Cline, who also worked on the screenplay to this movie with Zak Penn) but I didn't rate it as a GOOD piece of writing. If asked to describe it by anyone, or if I decided that I should discuss it with other people, I mentioned the style of American Psycho, but instead of lots of brand names and designer labels it was overstuffed with pop culture references, mostly from the 1980s.

When I started to hear about Steven Spielberg directing the movie version of the movie, I had an optimistic view of what we might get. Spielberg knows that world. He gave us a hell of a lot of it. And he has proven, on more than one occasion, that he can take a flawed novel and pare away the worst parts to give us a real cinematic treat.

I bought my ticket, I bought my treats, and I eagerly waited to be transported to a world full of recognisable characters, moments, and cinephile-friendly easter eggs.

Basically, I got what I wanted. Sometimes.

Sadly, the film isn't the improvement on the book that I hoped it would be. It works in some ways (the casting of the main "baddie" being a big plus point, for example) and then falls down in other ways.

The basic plot, for those still unaware, is as follows. Most people spend their days living in a virtual world called the OASIS. You can do anything you want, and also build up kudos and credit that could help you in the real world. The creator of the OASIS left a number of easter eggs in the world, revealing in a video that automatically played to everyone after his death that the person to find three hidden keys would become the owner of the OASIS, which would make them the most envied individual on the planet. Tye Sheridan is Wade, who spends his time in the OASIS as Parzival, and he thinks he has what it takes to win. He also doesn't mind helping a girl that he is quite taken with, Art3mis (AKA Samantha in the real world, played by Olivia Cooke), and his best friend, Aech. But as they start to make progress on their quest, corporate bad guy Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) becomes more determined to put a stop to them, either in the OASIS or by dealing with them outside the relative safety of virtual reality.

Almost every aspect of Ready Player One has both good and bad aspects to it. Sheridan is a disappointingly bland lead, but that's okay when you get more of his scenes featuring Cooke. Mendehlson and T. J. Miller are both very good, but I can't say the same for Mark Rylance and Simon Pegg, which is very unusual for the former. And Lena Waithe, Philip Zhao, and Win Morasaki do fine, but aren't half as memorable as the hordes of CGI cameos worth keeping your eyes peeled for (which I understand is almost the driving force for the whole thing anyway).

The script does well at explaining ideas and plot points, it doesn't do so well at giving the characters any decent dialogue in between explaining ideas and plot points.

The visuals are impressive, as you'd expect, but most scenes are far too busy, either with the ongoing action or the multitude of easter eggs. What I expected to be fun onscreen actually ends up quickly becoming quite tiresome and irritating. I may change my mind when able to view the film at home and rewind certain moments, and it at least improves things structurally compared to the sloppiness of the source material, but this is very much a dual-layered experience. As an actual piece of cinema it's a hot mess, yet as a hot mess it's kind of easy to pick and choose various moments to enjoy.

Even the soundtrack falters. The score by Alan Silvestri isn't very memorable and the pop hits used throughout are just background noise when they could have been lined up with better moments to create some movie magic. Hell, the film starts with Van Halen's "Jump" blasting and then just fades it out as you get the initial info dump. High energy potential is just left to sizzle and dry up.

This should have been a home run for Spielberg. He's been back on excellent form over the past few years, he's comfortable working with all of the new industray toys, and movie nerdiness is in his blood. The fact that it isn't proves how hard it must have been to translate the story to screen. So perhaps we should just be glad that this project fell to him, rather than someone who could have made it so much worse.

6/10

The Blu-ray will be available here.
Americans can pick it up here.