Prime Time: Last Straw (2024)

Keeping the acting based mainly in one location. Utilising a cast full of relative unknowns, with a cameo from someone who already has a filmography full of various genre treats. Yes, we're in the realm of the directorial feature debut here. It's Alan Scott Neal sitting in the big chair, working from a screenplay by Taylor Sardoni, and there's certainly enough here to enjoy, although it's just a bit too slight to be remembered as anything more than a serviceable time-waster.

Jessica Belkin plays Nancy, a young woman who has to stick around for the late shift at a diner owned by her father, Edward (Jeremy Sisto). Some makes youths have been causing trouble in the area, which makes them the number one suspects when Nancy starts to be terrorised by some strangers surrounding the diner some time after sundown. There may be another explanation for the unfolding awfulness though, as starts to become clear when there's a jump back in time to show us the situation from a different perspective.

This is made well. The characters are sketched out decently, there's a fun moment before the terror begins that allows Belkin to dance and lip sync to an enjoyably loud and lively song, and some of the violence that ends up occurring is appropriately grounded and raw. It doesn't every feel very interesting though, nor worthwhile (despite the runtime being a nice and lean 83 minutes). The plot developments and character turns never feel natural and plausible, the lead character somehow becomes less interesting as they find the strength to keep dealing with the madness unfolding around them, and the third act all falls a bit flat.

Belkin is really good in her role though, good enough to keep you on her side even as she spends a lot of the earlier scenes being harsh and unpleasant to many of the people around her. Taylor Kowalski is okay as Jake, a young man who finds his day starting to unravel when he is suddenly fired from his job, Christopher M. Lopes is arguably the most sympathetic person onscreen, due to his vulnerability and how he is manipulated, and Joji Otani-Hansen and Michael Giannone would be completely interchangeable if it wasn't for the fact that one is meant to have a stronger attachment to our lead than the other. Sisto is very good in his few scenes, and it's worth mentioning how good Glen Gould is as a local Sheriff.

I feel like I've been a bit harsh here, especially when noting that the film isn't really worthwhile. To clarify, it's perfectly fine, especially when any scene is completely focused on Belkin. I just don't think it does enough to stand out from a crowd of many similar movies, whether we're talking about crime thrillers set mainly in one location or, more specifically, movies with memorable diner sequences (and the fact that I so enjoyed the recent diner-based The Last Stop In Yuma County doesn't help). If you're going to work with such a simple and well-known premise then you either have to throw in a lot of impressive twists or you have to fine-tune everything to make it the best that it can be. Last Straw does neither of these things, which is why it never transitions from good to great.

6/10

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The Other Side Of The Door (2016)

Why do people so stubbornly avoid adhering to the rules when given supernatural solutions to their problems? Probably because we'd have a shocking lack of horror movies otherwise. It often makes it easy to know where horror movies are going. Here, for example, it's easy to observe the tale of a grieving mother being offered one last chance to speak to her son and know that when she is told that she can only speak to him through a certain door, and must never ever open that door, that she's absolutely going to end up opening that door (hence the title).

Sarah Wayne Callies is that mother, Maria. She was involved in a car accident that led to the death of her son (Oliver, played by Logan Crenan), made even worse by the fact that she managed to save her daughter (Lucy, played by Sofia Rosinsky). Some months later, Maria is still tormented, her husband (Michael, played by Jeremy Sisto) doesn't know how to help her, and she attempts suicide. And that's when she is told about the one way that could allow her to say some final words to her son. The door, the one that she shouldn't try to open.

When I saw the trailer for The Other Side Of The Door I was left decidedly unimpressed. It looks pretty predictable, similar to almost every other mainstream horror movie released over the past few years, and uninteresting. Strangely enough, it IS all of those things, and yet I still ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected to. At this point, I suspect I am maybe ready to automatically give a bonus point or two to any horror movie that isn't a remake, sequel, or connected to The Conjuring universe.

I will also tend to give a bonus point to anything directed, as this is, by Johannes Roberts, who also co-wrote the script with Ernest Riera (continuing their working relationship that has been working well for over a decade now). Roberts is one of the better genre directors out there, even if he doesn't always get the budgets to match his vision (as was the case with Storage 24), and this is another case of him doing solid work with ideas that are both derivative and still full of potential. The plotting and scares may be predictable enough, but they're all nicely handled, and you get some more impressive visuals dotted in between the standard grab bag of spooky CGI tricks.

Callies does well in the lead role here. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that this is her best work in years, thanks to the strength of her performance when in absolute misery before things start going all supernatural and tense. Rosinsky is also very good, playing a young girl who takes strange new circumstances in her stride, and Sisto does just fine as the husband/father kept out of the way for the many scenes when his presence won't help the engineered scares. Suchitra Pillai is the character who helps to direct the main character towards the door that leads to so many problems. It's a thankless role, many viewers will be waiting for her inevitable fate, but she does as well as can be expected in the role.

I'm not going to oversell this, the imagery and jumps are as enjoyable as they are familiar, but I am surprised that more people haven't given it a chance. Stemming from such a moment of pain and trauma that it is easy to identify with (even if I hope most viewers identify with it from a distance), this is a horror movie with a little bit more emotional weight to it than most. And I tentatively recommend it to horror fans who don't mind their genre fare occasionally being a bit glossy and slickly packaged for mainstream audiences.

6/10

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Robot & Frank (2012)

An affecting drama with just a dash of sci-fi in the mix, Robot & Frank is a great little film that manages to impress viewers without the need for any unnecessary frills. Of course, Frank Langella being fantastic in the main role is a huge plus.

Langella plays Frank, a man who used to be a jewel thief but who now has to get used to the quiet life. Well, that's what his son (James Marsden) and daughter (Liv Tyler) are hoping for. His son even gives him a gift, a robot butler, to both help him around the house and keep him company. But it's not long until Frank realises that the robot may be able to give him a second shot at his favourite, though illegal, career.

Written by Christopher D. Ford, this is a beautiful little film, one that mixes in a few great characters with a small amount of humour and a story arc that viewers will genuinely care about as things play out. It's a seemingly simple drama that's freshened up slightly thanks to the small sci-fi touches throughout, and also thanks to the great cast. As well as Langella, Marsden and Tyler (who isn't onscreen for very long at all), there are also decent turns from Susan Sarandon (a real highlight in her relatively small role), Peter Sarsgaard and Jeremy Sisto, among others.

Director Jake Schreier does well by the material, never overdoing the emotional button-pushing until a final 10-15 minutes that really earns the right to tug at the heartstrings of anyone watching. There are one or two surprises, but none of them will leave viewers feeling cheated.

It's a shame that, perhaps, some people may avoid this because the word "robot" is in the title, while others may seek it out expecting something more sleek and shiny. It's a drama, first and foremost, about aspects of the human condition (growing old, becoming vulnerable, etc.), but it also uses the near-future world that it presents to highlight just how so much can stay the same while so much else changes.

Almost a dictionary definition of the word "unassuming", Robot & Frank might just end up impressing you as much as it impressed me. It's sweet without being sickly, moving without being TOO heavy-handed, and simply entertaining from beginning to end.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Robot-Frank-Langella/dp/B00AENNHOE/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1398298580&sr=1-2&keywords=robot+and+frank

Grand Canyon (1991)

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan, who also co-wrote the screenplay with his wife Meg, Grand Canyon is a well-intentioned film that just doesn't really do anything. It allows one privileged white male character to help some black people, lets Steve Martin step away once more from his comedy schtick and shows a bunch of women who either need a man or a baby to be happy. Yes, it's THAT bad in places.

It's also quite good in different parts. The acting from all concerned - Martin, Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Mary McDonnell, Mary-Louise Parker, Alfre Woodard, Tina Lifford, a very young Jeremy Sisto - is very good. Individual scenes are well done, especially a moment that sees Martin approached by a robber, but this is a movie that runs for two hours, and when I say runs I actually mean to say meanders.

What's the plot? Well, Kevin Kline and Mary McDonnell are a married, well-to-do white couple with some relationship problems. They have a son (Sisto) who is heading off to camp, which leads to the "empty nest" feeling for McDonnell. Kline decides to drive home one night through a slightly rough area in which he sticks out like a sore thumb. Thankfully, he's helped out of there in one piece by Danny Glover and the two strike up a bit of a friendship, one that allows Kline to make up for a multitude of sins by helping Glover and his family. Meanwhile, Steve Martin is a Hollywood producer who makes ultra-violent films until his own encounter with violence leads to an epiphany and Mary-Louise Parker gets herself all in a muddle after falling for the married Kline.

I enjoyed Grand Canyon when I first saw it about twenty years ago. I was a teenager and this is a simple, naive film. The fact that I enjoy it a lot less nowadays, having seen and experienced much more of the world, comes as no surprise. The fact that I still enjoy it in any way is the surprising part. I'm sure there are people who will feel almost insulted by the way the movie treats some, if not all, of its characters. It's the kind of movie written almost purely to assuage the collective guilt of white, middle class America.

Maybe that's why, as a white, middle class (*shudder* what have I become?) Brit, I don't hate it as much as I should.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grand-Canyon-DVD-Danny-Glover/dp/B00006420Z/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374786050&sr=8-2&keywords=grand+canyon