Payne sketches pain with joy

 THE HOLDOVERS (2023)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Irresistibly bittersweet describes most Alexander Payne films, at least to me (though I have yet to see "Downsizing"). At his best, and that is pretty much all the time, Payne evokes emotional clarity and deep pathos for his troubled, flawed characters. He wants us to like the people we see on screen regardless of their flaws and their often manic behavior. Such was the case with Paul Giamatti in "Sideways," one of the best road movies ever made where merlot was a plot point, and such is the case again in casting Giamatti in "The Holdovers" which is Payne's first film set in that awkward era, the 1970's. I always felt that the 1970's was a way of finding one's groove, one's own personal link to society and the world. "The Holdovers" has that in spades and it is also unequivocally a great film and one that stands proudly with his other supreme directorial efforts such as "Nebraska," "About Schmidt," "Election" and "Sideways." 

Set in the 1970's at Barton Prep School in New England, Giamatti (in the most perfectly realized role he has played in quite some time) is the erudite, pipe-smoking, Jim Bean-imbibing European history teacher Paul Hunham. The students all hate him because he gives honestly deserving exam grades such as D's and F's (to be fair, his students don't seem all that bright). Mr. Hunham is blunt, perhaps too blunt, and not just with his students but also with the dean of Barton. Thanks to the faculty head, Hunham is the newly elected teacher to stay with holdovers over the Christmas break. He doesn't care that he has to stay in his usual academic environment but the few students who can't stay with their families do care. One of them is the lanky, intelligent Angus Tully (played by first-timer Dominic Sessa) who scores the higher grade in Hunham's class. Angus is angered by his mother who tells him he can't come to visit due to his stepfather and some planned honeymoon. Throughout the environs of this school, the cafeteria's head cook Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) is also staying behind though she had hoped to see her pregnant sister. Outside of Angus, the rest of the students manage to leave after all and now it houses the sole student Angus, Hunham and Mary. Hunham can smoke his pipes and read all the books he wishes yet Angus wants to venture to Boston and Mary would like to visit her sister. 

Pain and deep sorrow informs the lives of Angus and Mary, the latter especially due to losing her son in Vietnam. Angus has issues with his mother and the purported loss of his actual father - he also feels that nobody really likes him. Hunham may have issues yet pain and sorrow are not in his desolate life - he has never been married and seems to carry no regrets although you sense that he wished he had a romantic partner in his life (Barton's administrator, Lydia, almost leads to the possibility of a romance in Hunham's mind until he discovers she's involved already). In one truly magnificent scene of self-revelation, Hunham confesses that life is bitter and complicated and "that it feels the same about me." This scene alone encapsulates what we love about Giamatti and his difficult yet slowly approachable character of Hunham - his life is not easy and he has to work harder to get people to approach him. Same with Angus, a kid who has his whole future ahead of him and seems to have a more finite understanding of it than anyone else. 

"The Holdovers" expertly deals with these three characters with such sensitivity and humanity that you almost feel like you've never seen people like them before. Astutely written by David Hemingson (though you feel Payne must have led an uncredited hand in it), every singular moment and every scene has a crackling vibrancy to it as if we are witnessing actual lives being led. Along with Giamatti, the bold newcomer Sessa and the sympathies we especially feel towards Da'Vine Joy Randolph (she was memorably cast in TV's "People of Earth"), "The Holdovers" becomes that rarity in cinema today - a first-class act of wonder all the way around. Sweetly tempered tones, richly textured characterizations, quotable dialogue particularly from Hunham's mouth, absorbing mix of academic life along with road movie aspirations and a touching and witty finale, movies just don't get much better than "The Holdovers." And they don't get much better without Alexander Payne at the helm.  

Not a care in the world

 THE KILLER (2023)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

David Fincher's "The Killer" is methodical, cold, cynical and deeply impersonal, much like the titular protagonist himself. We are not meant to care about him, to feel any empathy or to draw any emotional stance, like the protagonist himself. That is both a risk and a detriment to the film itself.

Michael Fassbender is the Killer, an assassin who is meticulous about his habits and how he performs his job. He is staking out a wealthy target in Paris, a city that he describes as slow to awaken unlike other cities. He does yoga, listens to the distinctive sounds of "The Smiths" and is in some half-finished apartment where he can spot the target across the way. He pretends to be a German tourist-of-sorts and eats McDonald's for the protein. Unfortunately, he misfires when the target arrives and kills a dominatrix! He takes off back to his hideout in the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately for the Killer (he has no name though he uses aliases from classic TV shows in his various passports), he finds his girlfriend is in the hospital and has been violently attacked. Naturally the client that the Killer works for was ready to kill him (how the girl managed to survive such a brutal attack is one lingering question). Now the Killer wants revenge and hunts down those responsible. 

"The Killer" is absorbing in its own clinical way from start to finish and, at first, I got a kick out of the Killer's voiceover where he goes on about his lack of belief about anything - the guy is sort of an existentialist with a narrow point-of-view of humanity. This all makes sense considering he's an assassin yet much of his voiceover becomes cliched and tedious - I suppose I have heard such pronouncements frequently throughout the years and hearing them from an assassin is not always interesting. They almost serve as justification for what he does yet we learn nothing about this robotic killer, other than the fact that he has a girl. When I think back to similar films such as the extremely glum "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" or the thrilling "No Country for Old Men" or even the kinetic "Collateral," there was a sense of mystery and personality to these hitmen. Fassbender is such a quixotic presence that it didn't bother me he didn't have much to do other than appear. He is like a snake, sliding in and out of buildings, garages and restaurants without being spotted - a boring anonymous assassin. That makes sense for the movie but it leaves us with not much else.

David Fincher is a true marvel of a director and his own clinical approach to this remorseless killer's methods holds one's attention (Tilda Swinton, in a compelling cameo, also keeps you watching). Once we arrive at the end of the film where he may or may not be at peace, I just didn't care - much like the protagonist himself.        

Not for the He-Man crowd

 HEAVY METAL (1981)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Juvenile, adolescent animated anthology of a hybrid of sci-fi/sword-and-sorcery stories from the minds of Heavy Metal, a sci-fi/fantasy magazine that I might have flipped through the pages of an issue back in the day. I am not sure I love 1981's film adaptation of the magazine, "Heavy Metal," but I was quite mesmerized by it. 

There's a powerful green orb that talks, women naked and wanting sex anxiously more than in any cartoon I've ever seen, a cab driver of the future harboring a wanted femme fatale, gratuitous violence, etc. Did I mention the naked women and their big breasts? Did I forget to mention a young kid zapped into space who manages to have Herculean strength and has sex with two women, one as a prerequisite to obtaining that green orb? That green orb has a mind of its own clearly because some unlucky people pick it up and it melts them, whereas others pick it up and it turns them into zombies.  

I have no idea what this movie is about it, and I do not care. Coherence and characters worth caring about are not the mainstay of these tales that include Harry Canyon, the aforementioned futuristic cab driver who thinks nothing of having sex with some woman on the run. When the fleeing woman has the orb (known as the Loc-Nar) in her possession, she will sell it to some gangster and split the profits; yeah, right. Meanwhile, lots of sex scenes with introductions of women always baring their breasts and that includes a fierce, silent warrior fighter named Taarna who flies around on the back of a prehistoric-looking bird! She is shown naked, gets dressed with a slim outfit yet when she's about to be tortured, she's naked all over again! If I was a 9-year-old watching this way back when (I saw the non-animated "Flesh Gordon" at that time), I might've been salivating over the nudity. At my age, this just looks like it all came from the mind of a 10-year-old in a never-maturing 30-year-old body.

I could have lived without the B-17's during World War II and less of that Captain Lincoln F. Sternn which has no tonal consistency with the rest of the film (more Harry Canyon would've been nice). "Heavy Metal" is junk food, sci-fi gobbledygook and pure fantasy mish mash with razzle-dazzle effects and plenty of breasts - sort of a pulpy, nasty, grotesquely violent movie you watch late at night and hope nobody notices. Not for the He-Man crowd.  

Mollie Burkhart: Osage Heart and Soul

 MOLLIE BURKHART: 

THE HEART AND SOUL OF KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Written by Jerry Saravia

Some film critics on Youtube and printed media have said that the depiction of Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" is unfocused. Further criticism indicates that Mollie's point-of-view is not shown and that the film would've worked better had it been her story, not the greedy white men who steal from the Osage natives and kill them for their oil headrights. Though some of this may be true in hindsight, the true story itself involves all participants, both Osage and the white Oklahomans. Make no mistake: Mollie informs Scorsese's film more so than the excellent David Grann book of which it is based on. 

Here's an example of what Anthony Lane from the New Yorker wrote: "It is Ernest Burkhart whose fortunes we are invited to follow. Huh? This dumb dolt, with bran for brains? Why should he take center stage?" There is no doubt that Ernest is shown as a dumb dolt, someone who can't fathom any deep understanding of anything other than licking his lips at the prospect of money, even if you kill your wife for it, right? Ernest is the Forrest Gump of this movie, only Gump showed a smidgeon more intelligence and virtue (think about it, what does that say about Ernest?) When Ernest's youngest daughter, Little Anna, dies of a whooping cough (in the book, there's understandably suspicion of foul play amongst the Osage), he screams in almost agonizing pain in prison while his Machiavellian uncle Hale (Robert De Niro) also seems affected. Ernest's pain mirrors Mollie's scream earlier in the film after a suspicious house explosion kills yet another sister of hers. Ernest decides to turn state's evidence and tell the truth of what he did during this Reign of Terror. This does not excuse his actions and Mollie, who is one of the few survivors of this Reign of Terror, is perplexed by her husband whom she still loves. 

Mollie's story, in fact the whole Osage tribe, really informs "Killers of the Flower Moon" and the proof, as far as the tribe is concerned, is in the opening and closing sequences of the movie. The opening features a ceremonial pipe buried by the Osage elders followed by the rain of oil spurting like a fountain from the ground - Black Gold has risen and will make them rich. The film closes with the Osage tribe performing a ceremonial dance, a vibration from the ground up only it is not oil but their drums that bespeak their culture, their spirituality and it lives - the wealth that had since eroded in that part of the world no longer has value. Prior to this stunning sequence, we witness a radio program called "The Lucky Strike Hour" that ends with director Scorsese offering his briefly emotional eulogy to Mollie Burkhart. She died, forgotten by history books (until now with David Grann's 2017 book) without any mention of the murders of her family. I came away from "Killers of the Flower Moon" with Lily Gladstone's Mollie Burkhart etched in my brain, impossible to deny or forget her existence. She knows why Ernest wants to marry her and has no delusions of anything other than love of money by the "coyote." She never imagines that Ernest would try to kill her and is told by her sisters that Ernest already has wealth thanks to his uncle. This must mean that Ernest does love her. But how much money is ever enough? This theme of unbridled greed first began in Scorsese's "Casino" and continued with Wolf of Wall Street" yet, other than Sharon Stone's drunk Ginger in "Casino," we never saw how it affected the victims of the protagonists' actions. We certainly never see the victims of Jordan Belfort's greedy practices or Ace Rothstein imposing too much control on everything from his job as casino director to his long-suffering wife who falls into a deep pool of drugs and alcohol. In "Killers of the Flower Moon" though, we see how it affects the victims, the Osage members whose wealth has raised the interest of white people flocking to their land to take whatever they can get at any price. 

 

It is impossible to tell this story without the white antagonists, chiefly the insidious Hale and the woefully ignorant Ernest and, though the subjectivity shifts to them frequently, we are not asked to identify with them. DiCaprio and De Niro show the humanism of these characters through their charm, their slight humor yet we are not asked to think of them as anything but corruptible murderers. It is history, the history of this Oklahoman region in Osage County and not including Ernest or Hale would mean not telling the story. Mollie Burkhart, beautifully played by Lily Gladstone with subtle notes of grace and regret, informs the film with her presence which glows and brings some light into this dark world. Mollie is unsuspecting of foul play and murder but she sees, as the tribal council makes clear, that too many Osage members are dying and it is clearer and clearer who the culprit is. Even then, as mentioned in the book, nobody suspected that Hale who lived in the Osage county for so long would be responsible - Hale loved the Osage natives and so why take their money when he has his own wealth as a cattle rancher? Mollie knows some dark forces are at play here and her gradual sickness, fueled by Ernest who poisons her insulin that is meant to curb her diabetes, is another murder waiting to happen. When Mollie questions Ernest and asks for the truth about whether or not he poisoned her, he can't tell her yet she already knows.  

"When you are in doubt, be still, and wait; when doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage. So long as mists envelop you, be still; be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists -- as it surely will. Then act with courage."

- Chief White Eagle, Ponca

What's wrong with Whiley Pritcher?

 PUBLIC ACCESS (1993)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Bryan Singer's directorial debut "Public Access" is half of a great movie. What starts off as an engrossing drama-of-sorts of enigmatic stranger entering a small town and paying to have his own TV program on Public Access soon enough left me feeling frustrated and uncertain. 

Frustration and uncertainty are not flaws if a film has a sense of purpose about itself, some measured ambiguity. The stranger in the town of Brewster is Whiley Pritcher (Ron Marquette), and he waltzes into this town with two bags and some cash. He checks in to a cheap apartment where the landlord was a former mayor. Wiley then goes to the local library and does extensive, all-day research into the town of Brewster. Why is Whiley here and why he wishes to start a TV show called "Our Town" is mystifying and intriguing. His presence on TV is solid, he's a bespectacled, eager and professional young man who clearly has been involved in similar programs in the past. When townspeople start calling, they complain about their neighbors anonymously. When Whiley receives more threatening calls after asking viewers with a signature catchphrase ("What's wrong with Brewster?"), he starts antagonizing them. 

"Public Access" offers precious little insight into Whiley. We learn he has vivid, sweat-inducing nightmares and he keeps some some black-and-white photo presumably of his father in his room. His intent in this town and with the show that makes him into a minor celebrity is never clear. This guy starts killing a couple of people in town who might interfere with the town's presumed economic progression, again assuming that is the case, and that in itself would've made for a fascinating psychological and small-town political thriller. As played by Marquette, Whiley looks like the evil cousin of Clark Kent and is well-cast and does what he can to be an imposing threat, a sort of shadowy, detached figure with an agenda. But what is the agenda? And when we learn that the current mayor has practically sold his soul for a selfish economic boost where he benefits and the town loses, Whiley feels his job is done. Huh?

Wiley is either a contract killer who jumps from town to town to correct either the need for progression or the lack of it, or just simply a serial killer who just happens to love hosting TV shows. Singer is a hell of a director ("Usual Suspects" is still his crowning achievement) and can work well with actors but, after seeing this film twice, I just throw my hands up at what it all means.

Farley good for a few chuckles

 BLACK SHEEP (1996)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

I expected the worst, most spectacularly unfunny comedy of all time when watching "Black Sheep," a movie I studiously avoided for the longest time. No particular reason for my avoiding it - I liked "Tommy Boy" and the energetic pratfalls and slapstick of Chris Farley (let's face it, he was always funnier on "Saturday Night Live"). I also liked Farley's pairing with straight man David Spade in "Tommy Boy" and, though both are not quite on par with Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy, they are likable enough without grating one's nerves. "Black Sheep" misses more often than hits yet when it hits the rather tame bullseye of laughs amidst visual sight gags, I chuckled. 

A governor candidate running for the state of Washington, Al Donnelly (Tim Matheson, playing it far straighter than David Spade) has a clumsy though good natured brother, Mike (Chris Farley), who works at a rec center and does everything he can to help his brother campaign. That includes driving a political advertising truck that nearly demolishes a movie theatre's marquee where Al is on the stump. No matter where Al goes, Mike is there pushing for his brother to win the job. Most of these scenes such as an inadvertent campaign phone call are terrifically timed and Farley shows some measure of restraint. When he gets his thumbs stuck in the car trunk or his tie stuck in car window as it drives off, it is mildly funny but not nearly as boisterous as his smaller, more intimate comedy scenes. Trying to shake a bat on his head is good for a chuckle but the scene itself, set in a log cabin where he's stuck with David Spade who plays a campaign aide, runs on too long. Many scenes do. Farley's tumbling down a hill, though nowhere near a van or a river, goes on way past the tolerable meter - it has too many beats and in comedy, you don't want that. Restraint and brevity are a comedy's best friends.

I was amused throughout "Black Sheep" and laughed three or four times but I'd just as soon see "Tommy Boy" again before deciding to see this one again. Still, for less than an hour and a half of mining humor from every situation, Chris Farley excels enough to make one wish he had more time on this earth to make better movies.