For It Is Man's Number: matthew macfadyen

Showing posts with label matthew macfadyen. Show all posts

Monday, 30 September 2024

Mubi Monday: The Assistant (2019)

A film very much stemming from, and in dialogue with, the #metoo movement of recent years, The Assistant is also a straightforward look at workplace toxicity and the attitudes that can lock individuals into miserable jobs for far too long.

Julia Garner is the assistant of the title, busy with telephone calls and appointments that all have to be figured out around the whims and moods of her boss. There are other people here, including a character played by Matthew Macfadyen, but it's Garner's character, Jane, who holds, and deserves, our attention as we're shown one typically terrible day in her job.

Written and directed by Kitty Green, who has a small, but very interesting, filmography I think is worth exploring, The Assistant feels oppressive and uncomfortably believable throughout the entire 87-minute runtime. Viewers get to see numerous assholes being placated and protected, all because of their high executive position, and because they are part of an entertainment industry that continues to have these self-contained cesspools where scumbags can have fun and thrive, as long as they keep making the right amounts of money for everyone else.

Garner is never excellent, never less than riveting in the way she uses her body language to show her constant struggle and the growing weight on her shoulders. Others who move around her also do well, and always do enough to add context and flavour to the ebb and flow of the workplace, but it's only Macfadyen who gets a chance to meet Garner at her level. His scene underlines the difficulties facing our lead, and he delivers some horrible dialogue with a calm tone and generally pleasant manner that makes it feel all the more sickening.

Some people who have experienced anything like this may be able to watch The Assistant and feel relief that they have moved on, but others may actually find the behaviour shown here quite triggering. Be warned. There may also be some people who are working, or have worked, in a place that they think is decent enough until they start to recognise some of the red flags shown here. Again . . . be warned.

Very effective stuff, and Green knows just how to pace the film and make great use of what can be inferred by viewers, this is a surprisingly gripping drama that some could easily argue stands on the very edge of horror movie territory. It's helped by that impeccable turn from Garner (who I am quickly becoming quite a fan of, having seen her in two features this week that have both benefited from giving her the lead role), as well as the fact that it reminds us all that change is still rippling through a number of industries thanks to those who started the ball rolling a few years ago.

8/10

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Tuesday, 30 July 2024

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

You've got to hand it to Ryan Reynolds. He always knew he could portray the definitive movie version of Deadpool, and he managed to make it happen after some major setbacks (not least of which was his portrayal of a very mishandled Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine). And now we all get to enjoy the benefits of that long and bumpy journey, finally seeing a feature film that allows Deadpool and Wolverine to appear alongside one another.

Deadpool has been struggling. He has, in fact, hung up the suit, unable to find a way to actually matter. There is a way though. He is called to the Time Variance Authority, aka the TVA, by Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfayden). Deadpool can be part of something bigger, he can matter, or he can stay alongside the people he cares about until his universe is soon destroyed, a necessary measure due to it beginning to die after the loss of Wolverine. Deadpool thinks that jumping into various timelines to find any other Wolverine to bring back into his world may stop the pending destruction of his own universe, but things become even more complicated when our (anti-)heroes end up in The Void, a place full of discarded personalities, basically ruled over by the powerful Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin).

While writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick return to work on the screenplay with Reynolds, they are also joined this time around by Zeb Wells and director Shawn Levy. Levy has worked with Reynolds on a few different projects I have thoroughly enjoyed (although I know that some others have not enjoyed any non-Deadpool content from Reynolds in years), but his relatively tame and safe style makes him an unusual choice for this. It ultimately doesn't matter much though, because it's still Reynolds seemingly driving this iconoclast-mobile right through the middle of Marvel Main Street. A better director might have improved this, which would have helped, but the many jokes and cameos, the many Deadpool one-liners, and the simple joy of seeing our merc with the mouth finally sharing the screen with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine will keep most comic-book fans very happy. It's still difficult to argue against the Deadpool movies being a series of diminishing returns though. I loved the first, really enjoyed the second, and enjoyed this extra-silly final adventure (well, I assume this is a final adventure . . . because I struggle to think of how you do a better send-off for the character).

That is how this film works best, a send-off to some beloved characters. Aside from our titular leads, there are many others who get some time in the limelight (some arguably more deserved than others). Both Reynolds and Jackman remain perfect in their main roles, particularly when doing what they do best, but it's only the latter who can really work with the fleeting moments of real pathos. Not that Reynolds is incapable, but he's hampered by the nature of the character as showcased in the previous two movies built to fit him. Corrin does well with what they're given, and holds their own in one or two great moments with Jackman, but the film only needs them as a supporting villain in between scenes that point the finger at selfish and inconsiderate suits, headed up by Macfadyen, who bugger things up by meddling with timelines and discarding elements no longer deemed profitable. As for everyone else, Rob Delaney is as enjoyable as he has been in almost everything he's done, but I won't mention anyone else in case that ruins the fun and surprises for other viewers. Rest assured, however, there are some fantastic little turns from some very familiar faces, and a scene-stealing dog.

Deadpool & Wolverine will be a smash hit (it already is, judging from the figures for the opening weekend), and I will certainly revisit it as much as I revisit the other films in the series, or maybe I'll just revisit favourite sequences, but it's an adorable mess. The opening sequence is fantastic, there's a great fight in the middle, and a fairly satisfying . . . climax (*insert wink at reader here*). I'm just not sure how much fun the cameos will be once you know who is due to appear though, and some of the gags start to feel a bit tiresome after they have been repeated so often.

Does this clean things up for Marvel, or does it ultimately make things even messier? Does it really matter at all? I don't think so, and that has always been part of the appeal of the Deadpool movies. It's about enjoying the company of people who relish playing in the particular sandbox that they've been allocated. And, whatever you think of the end result, Reynolds has always put in maximum effort.

6/10