Buck stands out from the pack

 THE CALL OF THE WILD (2020)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

It is hard to fathom a bad cinematic version of Jack London's 1903 novel, "The Call of the Wild," and this new 2020 version is not bad at all. In fact, there are many stunning sequences of the Yukon Territory by way of California and CGI-filled soundstages but this film version just as often feels hampered by Buck, the dog who is a complete CGI creation. If you are going to use CGI animation for dogs, you better animate everything else. It gives new definition to the phrase "standing out from the pack."

Buck is a big husky dog, a mix of Saint Bernard and Scotch Shepherd, who also creates havoc with his current owners when he devours an entire six-course meal! The otherwise friendly dog is punished by staying outdoors during a cold, rainy night and is eventually kidnapped and abused with a club (readers of the book, beware because there is much of that in the beginning - book is tougher on Buck). He is shipped by freighter from California to Alaska where he is to be among a sled of dogs delivering mail. Buck is uncertain at first, then eventually he finds his footing as he runs along with the other dogs through miles and miles of treacherous ice and snow. The jaunty Perrault (Omar Sy) and his largely reserved partner Francoise (Cara Gee) are the mail runners and every sequence of the dog sledding, as it dissolves from night to day, is flawlessly done. Yet oddly there is not much urgency, especially when Francoise almost drowns in ice water with Buck rescuing her (he rescues dogs and people in danger and can kill easily, all mentioned in the book). The lack of urgency and panic is due to the animated Buck and I largely felt unconvinced that this was a real dog. As I mentioned earlier, if the whole film had been animated, it could have worked but combining the live action elements deters our emotional attachment no matter how well animated the dog is. The other sled dogs are also animated yet they seem more convincing, maybe because they are not replete with facial expressions every few seconds. 

A long white-bearded Harrison Ford as Thornton truly makes for a compelling frontiersman and he has an uncanny ability in making us believe all this is happening. Still, when you consider that past filmed versions of Jack London's novel have used real dogs, it makes me wonder why they couldn't do the same here. Save for some amazing scenery (though I wished they actually shot in the Yukon) and the magnetic Ford, I was too underwhelmed by this movie. It is adequate entertainment but the CGI Buck just didn't help to suspend my disbelief. 

No easy answers in Uruguay

 STATE OF SIEGE (1972)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

I was a mere adolescent in my native Uruguay during the 1970's so a political assassination was hardly on my news radar. Nevertheless, the chaos of a country in slow financial ruin in 1972 was the catalyst for guerrilla fighters trying to overthrow their government in the fact-based, marvelous thriller by Costa-Gavras called "State of Siege."

Yves Montand is convincing as an A.I.D. (Agency for International Development) American official who has just landed in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay. He is Philip Santore, actually based on Daniel A. Mitrone, an actual official who had been murdered by the Tupamaros. In actuality, Santore was serving more as an American police advisor for Uruguay since he had performed similar duties in other Latin American countries. Uruguay had been beset by the Tupamaros, urban guerrilla fighters who rob banks, casinos, and perform a whole lot of kidnapping of major government officials and citizens. Unfortunately, they sometimes kill which makes them less popular in the eyes of the country. The citizens are used to their operation as their cars are often obtained more than the people, but the officials never quite believe that the Tupamaros have the effrontery to kidnap them. Political prisoners are being held in Uruguay and the guerrillas want them released or else they will kill their latest kidnapped official, Santore. 

The bulk of "State of Siege" features Santore as he is interviewed and questioned by a masked Tupamaro and we learn that Santore has endorsed torture techniques used by the CIA - some of these include electric shocks delivered to all parts of the body. Through the Santore recorded interrogation, we learn that Santore is a guinea pig for the government, he's only following orders like he did in Chile and elsewhere. Montand crucially shows the humanity of an official who might be powerless just like the Tupamaros are in truly implementing change. No change can be expected when a democracy is expected to flourish and yet the definitions of democracy change from official to official - it is implied that they barely care about a democracy and more about maintaining wealth and prestige, at least among themselves. The sharp-witted journalist, Carlos Ducas (O.E. Hasse), can see through all the bureaucratic nonsense and he is just as present in the film's narrative as Santore is - whether or not he is on the side of the officials or the Tupamaros is never addressed. 

"State of Siege" is a sharply conceived, concisely contained thriller that starts with the murder of Santore and is carried along by flashbacks. It is a beautifully constructed narrative and there are moments that make you take pause, one in shock and horror followed by a deeper understanding of the country coming apart at the seams (there are also some humorous bits about the kidnapped officials). There are no easy answers and director Gavras has no solutions, nor does he take sides. Unlike what George Stevens, Jr. once said about withdrawing the film from being shown at the AFI, the movie never rationalizes the murder of an American official. "State of Siege" does try to interpret how fascism and the rise of violence are not answers.  

Intimacy where it has not gone before

 STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The summer of 1984 had some blockbusters that went beyond the call of entertainment duty such as "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Gremlins" yet "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" chose to underplay, to let us breathe and take in character details and exposition. It is just as good as "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" and it is a fitting, infrequently somber yet excellent conclusion to part II's open-endedness with regards to Spock's death.

The Enterprise crew is all back, and they are all shaken up by Spock's sacrificial death. The distraught Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) wants to head back to Genesis, a planet terraformed in the previous installment that happens to house Spock's coffin. Top Federation officials say returning to Genesis would be hazardous, politically of course, and declare that the Enterprise is not to exit the Spacedock. Naturally this is not to be as the determined Kirk; Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) who harbors Spock's spirit transferred by Spock; Scottie (James Doohan) who factors engineering problems by a factor of four; Sulu, the lieutenant commander, who doesn't like being called Tiny; Walter Koenig's Chekov who navigates the Enterprise and, of course, Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura, chief communications officer (instrumental in beaming up the crew to the Enterprise), are intent on getting to Genesis in warp speed time.

"Star Trek III" is chock full of the usual Trek specifics, including the Klingons as villains. This time, it is the nasty Klingon named Kruge (Christopher Lloyd, who plays him to the hilt), who wants the Genesis device and is ruthless in killing his own species and a girlfriend of his! We also get the slow rebirth of Spock, played by a variety of actors at different ages, as the adjustment to the surroundings is monitored by another Vulcan, Office Saavik (Robin Curtis skillfully replacing Kirstie Alley), and the inventor of the Genesis device, Kirk's son Marcus (the late Merritt Butrick). It is typically a race against time since Genesis is a dying planet.

Last minute rescues, last minute beam-me-ups, a jubilant score by James Horner, astute direction by debuting director Leonard Nimoy, extraordinarily restrained performances, a completely convincing new ship called the Bird of Prey and there is even a fistfight on an imploding Genesis that is short and sweet. Most significantly, "Star Trek III" is that rare sequel that is even more intimate with its characters than ever before.  

Muck of the past

MASTER GARDENER (2022)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Paul Schrader is one of those writer-directors who is willing to go places few wish to pursue. There is always the well-traveled road choice and his latest film, "Master Gardener," explores mostly new territory and occasionally heads towards the familiar. Still, in a time where everything is rebooted and repurposed for 80's nostalgic revivals, I am okay with Schrader recycling a third of his past endeavors.

Joel Edgerton gives a hypnotic, persuasive performance as the titular character, an insular horticulturalist named Narvel who tends to the elegant, enormous gardens of a Miss Haverhill (Sigourney Weaver, who somehow brings up memories of Dickens' Miss Havisham). It is Haverhill's private estate and Narvel has a few employees who keep the flowers blooming over the crucial seasons. Of course, nothing is precisely what it seems. Narvel is having a relationship with Miss Haverhill, usually after an elegant dinner. It is also evident that Narvel is not just any gardener, he is a former white supremacist who has committed murder (the scene where he is barechested revealing all those Nazi tattoos is a moment to take your breath away). Narvel might have changed his ways but he's still got those tattoos and he's got that haircut known as an undercut, which has become stylish in the 21st century but his plain cut is far too evocative of something we'd like to forget. 

The slow chain of events in these gardens begins to intensify when a young woman named Maya (Quintessa Swindell) is employed under the tutelage of Narvel. Maya is Haverhill's niece and Haverhill has never been happy with Maya's mother, a drug addict who died from an overdose. Maya suffers beatings from her drug dealer of a boyfriend and Narvel takes it upon himself to help her (a lot of this will remind many of Schrader's "Taxi Driver" screenplay). Narvel's hidden past is creeping up on him and I will not reveal what other obstacles he has to face.

"Master Gardener" is deftly carried along by Joel Edgerton, a workmanlike Aussie actor who has a delicate presence of repressed emotions - the guy initially can't go along with sleeping with Maya (his suppressed hate is no longer the issue). I was quite surprised by the many developments with these characters who grow on you - just like the opening title credits featuring flowers, they all blossom. Sigourney Weaver has a tricky role of appearing like a matron of all yet she secretly may harbor hate towards anyone not white-skinned (the fact that she sleeps with Narvel is indication enough). Swindell's Maya also makes a huge impression and she walks the walk and talks the talk, a streetwise girl who needs Narvel in her life. Swindell is a real find and is easily one of the brightest spots of the movie.

My objection to "Master Gardener" is that I wish it did not feature a violent solution that felt like a pale echo of "Taxi Driver" and "Light Sleeper" only not as brutal - just a few punches and kicks and (*SPOILER*) no one dies. I wish Schrader went somewhere else with regards to Maya (one sequence has them driving presumably a long distance from their lost jobs when, in fact, they are not that far from Haverhill's gardens). They need each other and I wish the film spent more time on them and their developing relationship. Still, despite such faint recycling of past Schrader violent climactic conflicts, "Master Gardener" is efficient in prose and a tight narrative structure, sometimes quite poetic (we hear Narvel's thoughts as he writes in his diary, another Travis Bickle staple). The ending is a doozy. 

Hate the dial-up modem's white noise

 BLACKBERRY (2023)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Other than knowing it had something to do with the history of the forgotten phone called the Blackberry, I had no idea what I was walking in to when I watched "Blackberry." As a documentary subject, it might have been fascinating enough yet it is actually a docudrama. The biggest surprise is that I was elated once it was over and wished it kept going. A Canadian film production using some top-drawer talent we don't see enough of, "Blackberry" is so acidically funny, so absolutely in lockstep with the construction and imagination of a phone that changed our society, if ever so briefly until improvements were made, that you almost feel you are a fly in the wall. 

Set during 1996, we meet a crew of tech nerds inside a ramshackle of an office space - everything looks messy and disorganized. A toilet plunger sits on a desktop computer (remember those? That is what I still use to type reviews on, um, the desktop computer of course) and all of these young nerds play video games, clogging the one phone line with an Internet signal (Internet Explorer, or is it Netscape?), and they always have movie night. The movie in question is everyone's favorite - a VHS tape of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) is the CEO of RIM (Research in Motion) and he has developed a brand of smartphones that includes both the Internet and email capabilities with a built-in keyboard (he deplores white noise from dial-up modems). His partner in crime is a red-bandana-wearing Douglas Fregin (winningly played by the film's director Matt Johnson) who is stoked by the invention yet wants to speak for Mike - he looks like one of Kevin Smith's slackers only he is an actual bundle of energy. Their first meeting with Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton), a hot-tempered bolt of lightning who seems to have emerged from Wall Street, doesn't go well but Jim does see potential with having a "computer in your phone." Jim eventually is allowed to oversee and promote what was initially called the "Pocket Link" and just as soon as there is a meteoric rise in success and sales (President Obama initially boasted about the Blackberry), there is also a precipitous fall. The now commonplace iPhone starts to emerge as a phone that is far more utilitarian, including having a touch screen keyboard rather than actual keys! It is the death knell for Blackberry and I seem to remember this sharp decline rather well. 

"Blackberry" is hysterical from the start as it shows these young men who are creative and imaginative yet can't hold a business meeting. Douglas is up front and often too bewildered, opting to run the company smoothly rather than aggressively (he wants to be co-CEO). Mike Lazaridis is his equal in that department, yet there is a stunning development during the course of their creation where he becomes all about business - Mike completely forgoes movie night for his crew of engineers! Jim is the man of the hour, able to talk good business sense and cut through all the red tape to get results. With this invention soaring, he becomes greedy, practically avoids his co-CEO responsibilities and thinks he can buy a couple of sports teams. When the SEC starts calling, Jim ignores them thinking that money talks no matter what - little does he know. 

"Blackberry" has a modest budget and looks like it was shot with S-VHS cameras or hi-8 camcorders but that doesn't detract from the film's relentless pacing and the anxiety from its characters. Jim is pure hyperbole, an action figure come to life with fumes coming from his ears who sees no limits. Mike has anxiety written all over his face, never finding common ground with anyone except for himself. He is not on an ego trip but the movie suggests he could become like Jim. Finally, Matt Johnson is the soul of the movie, a guy who likes to have fun and sees it all seeping from the company's original model. His final moment with Mike when he is let go is one of heartbreak. To add a touch of extra mileage, a supporting cast that includes Michael Ironside and Saul Rubinek sizzles the proceedings. "Blackberry" is acidic in temperament and, by the end, has heartbreak written all over it and plenty of laughs too. It is akin to "Wolf of Wall Street" as an out-of-control toybox with all its real-world business lessons. At the end of the day, Mike's sole concern is the white noise emanating from the new line of blackberrys. This is the one mainstream product line of recent times where progress was not its middle name.  

Fly Me to Neverland

 PETER PAN AND WENDY (2023)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The most magical "Peter Pan" movie I've ever seen is the 1924 silent film version that starred Betty Bronson as the Boy who Never Grew Up. 1953's Disney animated version comes close. I never found Steven Spielberg's live action "Hook" to be enthralling - noisy, yes, but not the least bit magical. Though I have not been privy to the last couple of 21st century "Peter Pan" versions, Disney's newest "Peter Pan and Wendy" is often delightful fun, though never raucous, and has the right spirit and tone. This not exactly a compelling movie at all; just good solid adventure that will keep kids invested and entertained, even adults like myself .

I think everyone knows the iconic J.M. Barrie story quite well so keep in mind, with certain key differences, this is the exact same movie as the 1953 classic animated film. Of course, Peter Pan is back and played by British actor Alexander Molony, though he is not as rousing a Pan as I would've liked but he does have a kindred spirit with the previous boys in green tights (and don't message me with "well, the role was played by girls, too." I am well aware of that). There is a winsome quality to Ever Gabo Anderson as Wendy, the girl who doesn't want to grow up though she knows her days of playacting tales of Peter Pan with her younger siblings is coming to a close. Yara Shahidi is an exceptional Tinkerbell and she is ebullient in her physical acting since Wendy can't always understand what the fairy is saying. Kudos must also go to Jude Law as the aggressive Captain Hook who wants to kill Peter Pan - it turns out there is a backstory involving Hook as the former boy James who was abandoned by Peter. A momentous scene that I found moving is when Pan apologizes to Hook - a rarity in Pan lore.

"Peter Pan and Wendy" is fitting, colorful entertainment and legions ahead of Spielberg's dismal "Hook." Disney has been accused by a precious few naysayers of woke-isms which, by the way, there are precious few. Yes, there are some Lost Girls in the Lost Boys group (another key difference) and a lot more diversity than norm for this tale - that in and of itself is hardly something to deplore. Wendy also turns out to be proficient with a sword though it is nothing like what we saw Alice capable of in Tim Burton's caffeinated "Alice in Wonderland" remake. These are not flaws, just woke-isms which is a phrase I do find deplorable. For good old-fashioned entertainment with some jaw-dropping scenery making Neverland a place I would love to visit, "Peter Pan and Wendy" has a sense of periodic fun and magic to it. Sometimes, that is enough.

The Colonel Needs a War

 THE GREAT SANTINI (1979)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Recalling my first viewing of "The Great Santini" with great fondness back in 1979, I couldn't forget Robert Duvall's sense of authority, directness and full control as Col. Bull Meechum. Duvall is one of the national treasures of American cinema since his startling, powerful Arthur "Boo" Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird" to his amoral network boss Frank Hackett in "Network" and everything else in between and beyond. Watching "The Great Santini" again, Duvall is clearly tailor-made for his role as Meechum though there is a subplot that threatens the narrative and feels tacked-on for reasons never made clear. Despite that, Robert Duvall rules in a role few could tackle so honestly.

It is the pre-Cuban Missile Crisis era of 1962 and Lt. Col. Bull Meechum is a troublemaker in the Marine Corps, playing all sorts of pranks and tomfoolery on recruits and generals. One such incident involves a vomiting act at a restaurant where the Colonel substitutes Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup (it took me years to be convinced to eat that type of soup again since it made me sick thinking of this scene). Another involves literally dragging a recruit from a bathroom stall and reminding him of how many were attacked while taking a crap during Pearl Harbor and that wiping yourself after a dump requires more than two...well you get the idea.

Col. Meechum moves his family to South Carolina to a spacious house in a military base town. His close-knit family includes his pliant wife (Blythe Danner) and their four kids. One of them, Ben who is the oldest (an exceedingly good Oscar-nominated Michael O'Keefe), is consistently harassed and bullied by his father. This notably happens when they play one-on-one basketball and the Colonel is losing to his son - the Colonel cannot accept defeat during a time when there is no war. A war is what this man needs to feel justified in his military career so he goes to war with mostly his son (one unforgivable scene, after cheating on the game, has the Colonel bouncing the basketball off of his son's head). When the Colonel drinks heavily, he fights with his wife (he also has a habit of waking up the household at 4 am and gathers them together as if we was rallying the troops). He needs a war and he will not find it in this small town. This is especially true when he almost wrecks his Ben's basketball game at school - a scene that made me cringe at the truthfulness of it since Ben decides to nearly the break the arm of another player just to irritate his father.

The scenes of hostility with Bull's treatment of his son and his family hits close to home, all based on Pat Conroy's autobiographical novel. Yet when we get to a character known as Red Pettus (David Keith), an absolute racist who bullies and threatens the stuttering Toomer Smalls (Stan Shaw, who also played a stutterer in "Harlem Nights"), I felt as if this inclusion to the narrative hindered everything else that I love about "The Great Santini." The characters of Toomer and Red also appear in the novel and there is a similar tragedy but I felt as I walked into some other movie (Toomer and Ben become friends and there is a mutual trust). Just because it is set in the South though doesn't entail such a troubling subplot with Red - it almost feels as if it came out of left field. Perhaps it is to indicate the differences between father and son in a moment of crisis (Bull wished his son listened to his direct orders rather than coming to Toomer's aid) but I felt the differences were more properly aligned with Ben and his father's personal relationship than with Ben and Toomer. 

I still have great admiration for "The Great Santini" and for Robert Duvall's astonishingly realistic performance. Blythe Danner also offers ample humanity as the wife who is frequently apologetic for her wild husband's digressions - you know she could never leave him but she will not stand for incessant bullying. Michael O'Keefe hits all the right notes as the son who could love and hate his father equally - the scene where he brings his drunk father home is one for the ages. Also must mention the acerbic Lisa Jane Persky as one of Bull's two daughters who tries her father's patience. Duvall stands tall in this movie and it is one of his greatest roles ever. The Great Duvall, indeed.