For It Is Man's Number: josh o'connor

Showing posts with label josh o'connor. Show all posts

Friday, 12 June 2026

Disclosure Day (2026)

Although it's a very different type of movie, Disclosure Day feels very much like a film that partners up with The Fabelmans. It's a film from someone very much looking back. It's director Steven Spielberg playing some of his hits. Unfortunately, the hits have since been overshadowed by, well, different hits from himself, as well as hits created by people who were influenced by him.

Josh O'Connor plays Daniel Kellner, a young man who is on the run. He has something, something so important that many agents, working under the direction of Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), won't stop until he is captured. Kellner has his girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), on his side, and he is given a number of supportive phone calls from Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo). Meanwhile, Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) is a TV weather presenter who has an encounter with a red cardinal that lands on her table and then gains the power to communicate effectively with everyone around her, in any language. She can also know what they're thinking, which gives her a big advantage when it becomes apparent that she needs to connect with Kellner and help to enable Disclosure Day.

On the one hand, Disclosure Day is not very good. The 145-minute runtime is too long, there are a couple of characters sidelined who I would have preferred to see retained for more of the runtime, and a lot of the decisions made by people are quite inconsistent, to say the least. David Koepp's screenplay cannot keep everything balanced well, but that may stem from how much he has to twist himself in knots to develop the idea from Spielberg, which houses a number of his worst traits, but tries to cover them up with some action and tension in the first half.

There's certainly no blame to be put on the actors, with both Blunt and O'Connor doing absolutely fantastic work throughout. I'd even be tempted to say that this is one of Blunt's very best performances, certainly one of her best from the last decade anyway. O'Connor gets to stay quite wide-eyed and nervy throughout, which he does well, whereas Blunt changes in a number of interesting ways. Firth is excellent as the potential villain of the whole thing, although his character is notably restricted by the screenplay, almost like he's a videogame character only allowed into certain areas once enough time has elapsed. Domingo is very good, even if he's either facilitating, or delivering, a lot of the exposition, but he's also, as others have mentioned, very much an onscreen avatar for Spielberg himself aka the man putting all of the pieces into place and co-ordinating the action. Hewson is involved in a couple of the best scenes in the film, Wyatt Russell is very enjoyable in his supporting role, and Henry Lloyd-Hughes is impressively determined and threatening as the right hand man to Firth's character.

You get alien activity. You get a couple of good set-pieces. There's a John Williams score. There's more lens flare than even J. J. Abrams might feel comfortable with. To paraphrase a famous comedy skit from yesteryear . . . you get all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order. Disclosure Day is a messy blockbuster, and the relative originality of it (compared to other recent blockbuster properties) and good intentions aren't enough to distract viewers from some inept plotting and numerous contradictions that are the result of either total laziness, temporary stupidity, or a mix of both.

Is it good to see a major release based around the idea that empathy is a super-power and that we shouldn't default to automatically fearing the unknown? Yes. But it would have been even better to see the messaging contained within a movie that had stronger structural integrity than a wet piece of tissue paper. Maybe the Spielberg of 20 or 30 years ago could have helmed that movie, or maybe we have to accept that thought-provoking sci-fi, whether optimistic or pessimistic, is now delivered better by those who spent years studying, and being in awe of, the mothership captain who will always cast a huge shadow over the sub-genre.

5/10

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Sunday, 18 January 2026

Netflix And Chill: Wake Up Dead Man (2025)

It's time for another Benoit Blanc mystery written and directed by Rian Johnson and this time around the murder mystery has repercussions that affect a small local church. There are more twists and turns, there's another stacked cast (although, with respect, maybe not as stacked as the previous two movies), and Craig feels as if he has become completely comfortable in a role that has most successfully allowed him to move further away from under the shadow of Bond. Is it any good though?

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that Wake Up Dead Man is perhaps the most interesting and substantial Benoit Blanc mystery yet, but it's not necessarily as much fun as the previous instalments in the series.

A Monsignor is the murder victim this time, but he also might have enough belief in the idea of resurrection to make his death less permanent than some others (hence the title). The main suspects are a younger priest with a troubled past, loyal members of a small congregation, and . . . some divine retribution?

I expected to have fun with Wake Up Dead Man. I expected to enjoy the cast, which also includes sizeable roles for Josh O'Connor, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Thomas Haden Church, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Daryl McCormack, Cailee Spaeny, and Mila Kunis. What I didn't expect was a film that mixed a murder mystery with an exploration of organised religion, personal faith, and the good and bad aspects of both. Some of the cast members may suffer slightly as they wait on the sidelines for some of the runtime, and Blanc himself doesn't come into the movie until about the 40-45 minute mark, but it's impressive to see Johnson use the template for such a thoughtful and insightful conversation about how people can be guided, or misguided, by someone, or something, helping to direct their moral compass.

Both O'Connor and Brolin are superb in their roles, the former quiet and contemplative while the latter is keen to deliver some fire and brimstone fury in sermons designed to drive away those he disapproves of, and Close, Washington, and Scott are the highlights from the rest of the ensemble, although everyone does good work. Then you have Craig, having even more fun this time around with a character who is more comfortable in his own skin than anyone else onscreen.

Johnson knows that he has people onside by this point. That gives him the space and time to wander around some new territory, always checking back in often enough to show us what is happening with the murder investigation. Patience is rewarded, no questions are left unanswered, and Johnson makes effective use of our goodwill without squandering it.

Some have already stated that this is their favourite Benoit Blanc mystery yet. I'm sure there are others who were disappointed. I'm also sure that it has at least done enough, in terms of audience numbers and conversations, to make a fourth outing very possible. Johnson seems to be very happy helming these, Craig seems to be just as happy to star in them, and viewers tend to be happy with the end result. I'm already curious as to what song title will be used next.

8/10

Monday, 22 December 2025

Mubi Monday: The Mastermind (2025)

There are many things to enjoy in the filmography of writer-director Kelly Reichardt. She has been delivering movies for some time now that seem to find a unique perspective of a variety of different genre staples. The Mastermind is her own particular take on the heist movie (although you could argue that First Cow could also be considered in the same vein). I was eager to see this, especially when hearing some praise for it and knowing that currently hot property Josh O’Connor was in the lead role.

O’Connor plays James Blaine Mooney, a man who figures out that a local art gallery should be quite easy to rob. He cannot do it alone though, and needs to borrow some money from his mother (Hope Davis) as he tries to get the right people in place for the job. As many will already know from other heist movies, however, committing the theft is often the easiest part. Things get trickier when trying to ensure that you stay free and unobserved while trying to offload the loot.

A deliberately loose and jazzy film, in stark contrast to the many heist films that focus on precision and constant forward momentum, The Mastermind may appeal to those who settle into the vibe of it, but it ultimately proved disappointing for me. Reichardt wants to build a little bit of tension, but also wants to show how pointless the whole thing is the grad scheme of things, especially as the 1970 time setting allows for her to show many people busy protesting the ongoing Vietnam War. Inspired by some classic films and a real art robbery that took place in the early 1970s, Reichardt delivers a film that is inarguably in line with the rest of her body of work. It just doesn't really work as well as other times she has given her own interpretation of traditional genre fare.

O'Connor is very good in the lead role, although I think he's being inevitably carried along by the heat and energy of the spotlight on him right now. He's definitely an interesting and captivating lead though, and his delicate and precise mannerisms help to make the film more interesting than it otherwise might have been. Both Sterling Thompson and Jasper Thompson are a delight as his young sons, and I'd nominate them as real standouts ahead of almost anyone else in the cast. Alana Haim continues her film acting career here, playing Mooney's wife, despite having yet to prove herself the best choice for any of the roles that she's had thus far, and Bill Camp and Hope Davis excel in the few scenes they have, portraying the mother and father of our main character. Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, and Javion Allen are hired to help commit the crime, although none of them really make any strong impression, and John Magaro and Gaby Hoffmann are friends who may be necessary accomplices/allies after the heist.

I cannot fault the technical side of things here. Reichardt has a fantastic eye. The score by Rob Mazurek is also wonderful, perfectly in line with the bobbing and weaving nature of the narrative. I seem to be in the minority with my lack of love for this. I liked elements of it, but never felt immersed enough in the world to care about where things would go after the enjoyable opening scenes. Mooney is either too naive or too stupid as a criminal "mastermind" (and I understand the title and tag being an ironic one), but the film gives us too many real consequences for others caught up in his orbit to make it easy or satisfying to laugh at his constant lack of preparation or criminal savvy.

5/10

Monday, 5 August 2024

Mubi Monday: La Chimera (2023)

Another film from celebrated writer-director Alice Rohrwacher, La Chimera is best, or most pithily described, as a dour look at the realities of tomb raiding. People seek their fortunes in nefarious ways, but that fortune isn't necessarily the key to happiness.

Josh O'Connor plays Arthur, a young man who has spent some time in prison for his crimes. The thing he remains best at is also the thing that could ruin his life, but that's less of a concern since the disappearance of a woman he loved, Beniamina (Yile Yara Vianello). Can he turn his life around? Will he go back to his old ways? Will viewers care?

This film has received a lot of love, which makes my dissenting opinion fairly irrelevant, but I was not a fan. One part did work for me, a potential relationship between Arthur and a young woman named Italia (Carol Duarte), and it's always good to see Isabella Rossellini in a role, however small, but I spent a lot of the 130-minute runtime wishing it would all be over sooner.

I know that others will get more from it though. It does have things to say - about love, loss, language, and the cost of spending so much time dealing with the dead. I just didn't appreciate the way the message was conveyed. While sold as a slice of magical realism, it feels neither magical nor realistic enough, and it's not helped by the fact that the lead character is almost impossible to warm to.

I have seen O'Connor do good work elsewhere recently, but this is not a role he shines in. The language barrier separates him from everyone else, but so does his apparent urge to stay away from any real connection with the live people around him. Duarte does better, helped by the fact that she seems to have a heart and soul, and there are decent turns from Rossellini, Alba (sister of Alice) Rohrwacher, and Lou Roy-Lecollinet. Few others feel worth watching though, and this is a film that makes use of a fairly large cast in some sequences.

Maybe something has been lost in translation (Rohrwacher had some help on the screenplay from Carmela Covino and Marco Pettenello), particularly when it comes to the attempts to intertwine some lightness through the dark, but while it's easy for me to see how others may like it more than I did . . . it's hard for me to see why it has received so much love. Rohrwacher has done much better with some of her previous work, and I recommend exploring her filmography (particularly The Wonders), but this ended up being disappointingly average, at best. I happily await the many people who can come along to tell me why I am completely wrong.

5/10

Tuesday, 25 June 2024

Challengers (2024)

A film all about tennis, except that it’s not really all about tennis. It’s all about sex, obsession, and power. But it’s also about tennis.

Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor play Art and Patrick, two tennis players who used to be very good friends. Their lives have gone in very different directions, however, and now Art is a pro trying to recover his form while Patrick is trying to win enough money to keep himself able to buy non-luxury items, like food. Both end up in a challenger tournament, and both end up playing against one another, observed by Tashi (Zendaya). Tasha is married to Art, but she is also very familiar with Patrick. Things may become messy and complicated, but it’s important to remember that this film is set in a world of tennis . . . where love equals zero.

Written by Justin Kuritzkes, his first major screenplay, this is a vibrant and steamy look at people who are pushing one another in different directions, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The material is elevated by Luca Gaudagnino’s electric direction, and a strange score from Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor that sometimes fits the visuals, but also sometimes just feels a bit jarring, yet now in a way that spoils the marriage between sight and sound.

The cast also help, absolutely fantastic in roles that allow them to relish being single-minded and fairly unpleasant for most of the runtime. Faist feels like the weakest of the three characters (in his nature, not in his performance), but his journey remains an intriguing one. O’Connor has more hunger in his eyes, although he also has some obvious failings that have held him back over the years. And then there’s Zendaya, casting a large shadow over these two men in a way that they don’t even fully realise until it is too late. Her turn here is wonderfully gritty and dispassionate, portraying someone who has decided to put all of her energy and effort into the career of someone else after her own dream came to a very sudden end.

Told in a non-chronological way, my main criticism is that there are some time jumps that feel a bit unnecessary, although everything becomes clear as you get used to the structure of the film. It feels like the right way to have done things though, especially by the time we get to a brilliantly satisfying finale. Momentum builds, camerawork is dizzyingly brilliant, and there’s a proper crescendo before everything ends, as should be the way of any great tennis match.

I wouldn’t say this is the best film for anyone involved, apart from Kuritzkes (so far), but it’s very good stuff. It’s sweaty, sexy, strange, and occasionally surprising. It’s certainly one of the best films about tennis that I can think of, despite it not really being about tennis.

8/10

Monday, 26 June 2023

Mubi Monday: God's Own Country (2017)

The easiest way to describe God’s Own Country is to label it Brokeback Yorkshire Moors. It is a tale of repression and frustration in a lonely and uncomfortable natural environment, but it’s also something that explores a very British resignation to accepting the status quo, the notion of family ties that keep you firmly rooted in one place, and a small serving of xenophobia.

Josh O’Connor plays Johnny Saxby, a young man who spends his days doing a lot of work on the family farm, where he lives with his stern father (Ian Hart) and his grandmother (Gemma Jones). With very little else to occupy his time, Johnny spends most evenings getting blind drunk at the nearest pub. He sometimes manages to make time for a quick sexual encounter with another man, but the focus is on getting it done quickly before anyone notices. When the farm takes on hired help for a week or so (a Romanian migrant worker named Gheorghe, played by Alec Secareanu), Johnny has someone to take his resentment out on, but also someone who can keep him company as they share time together with nobody else nearby.

Written and directed by Francis Lee, making his feature debut after serving up a few shorts (and having worked as a jobbing actor for a couple of decades before those), God’s Own Country is a slow and deliberate study of someone trying to spend time ignoring their own feelings, despite being on their own most of the time. Soundtracked by animal noises and the near-constant wind blowing over the fields, it is a film highlighting how people can acclimatize to their situation so well that they then struggle to deal with parts of themselves that seem incompatible.

While the cast all do good work (Jones and Hart both doing their usual excellent work, Secareanu holds his own impressively as a relative newcomer on the scene), the star of the show is O’Connor, working hard to show the vulnerability and pain in a character who spends some time being as unpleasant as possible to those around him: lashing out because they’re there, and he feels trapped.

Although it isn’t unrelentingly gloomy, this is a bleak tale that only gives viewers a very occasional sense of hope. That is in line with how the main characters may see their lives, all clouds and fleeting moments of sunshine, but Lee tries hard to reward viewers who sit through so much misery. Whether it’s the saving of a weak newborn animal or the potential repairing of a sorely-damaged family unit, there are scenes here that do just enough to remind us that small acts can be hugely rewarding, and that one small change can make a massive difference to someone who has only ever known a constant timetable they thought they would be enslaved to forever.

Sometimes painful to watch, sometimes frustrating, God’s Own Country is also sometimes (just sometimes) uplifting. And it is always moving and engrossing. Highly recommended.

8/10