Movies 2025 Movie Discussion Thread

[zendragon]

21 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

 

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Absolutely gripping action thriller that seems like the logical extension of Martin Campbell's earlier GoldenEye and Casino Royale. Jackie Chan is really great in this role and has grown in his English language acting compared to his Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon days. Pierce Brosnan as a First Minister of Northern Ireland Liam Hennessy has a bit of Liam Neeson during Michael Collins in his portrayal as a person who can't unring the bell after bombings happen that kill Quan Ngoc Minh (Chan)'s daughter.

I can say that some aspects of it were a bit outdated; I had almost wondered if it would be found that the attacks were orchestrated by an overseas group making it look like the IRA but that wasn't the case.

I can rant about this as well about something that annoyed me a bit - for God's sake, quit calling Chan's character a bloody "Chinaman"! The movie was done in 2017 and the guy emigrated to the UK. "Chinese-British citizen" or "Chinese" would have been better names to use. That sort of crap was seemingly fine in 1940s/1950s movies where we had John Wayne using racial epithets to describe people.

That didn't lessen the movie's power, but it did bug me a bit.

I did love how the scenes were framed and the tone throughout the movie; Chan seemed more compact in his fighting compared to his earlier movies when he was younger, but it was incredible to watch.

I'll have to seek out the other action thrillers Campbell did besides Bond movies and this. He has a knack with how he does action scenes.

Flight Risk (saw in the theaters) - 0.5/5 star

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Flight Risk is a comedy. If you attempt to watch it as a serious drama or as a thriller, you will be disappointed. The movie starts with Topher Grace (Winston) heating up ramen in a microwave and stares drolly into the camera while looking at the microwave. You can't help but to laugh.

US marshals come busting in lead by Michelle Dockery as Madolyn and put him in handcuffs and put him on the bed. He complains about the blanket being scratchy. He has to go to the bathroom. "Could I get some privacy?" "No." "Well, you'll have to do some paperwork." "I got a special assignment for you two." Title card.

This is a comedy where everyone talks in the driest manner possible. It's almost bordering on an Aki Kaurismaki film except.....this is not supposed to be funny. This is supposed to be absolutely serious and a thriller. This is not the Mel Gibson that directed Passion of the Christ, Hacksaw Ridge, Apocalypto, and Braveheart and knew how to make a compelling story with the movies he made. This is the Mel Gibson that ate dog biscuits and called a police officer "sugar t***" during a DUI arrest. He is absolutely unhinged. He lost his mind if he thought this movie should have been released.

One scene that made me bust out laughing was when the plane was about to hit the mountain and there's quick cuts between Madolyn, Winston and "Daryl Booth" (Mark Wahlberg). A serious movie doesn't do that. Only in a comedy does that happen.

When the plane finally lands, Mark Wahlberg gets run over and....it's hilarious (it's not supposed to be but it is). The EMTs arrive to check on Winston. "One of the people on the plane didn't make it," says an EMT. "Thank God," says Madolyn. (EMT taken aback). Then Madolyn meets the guy on the radio that was sexually harassing her - I mean flirting with her (time and place, pal, she's in a plane that's about to crash, read the room a bit). But nope, Madolyn doesn't raise a stink and just accepts it.

Then we see an EMT on a phone looking at Madolyn sinisterly before going into the ambulance. Oh no! He's going to kill Winston too! Madolyn bursts in and kills the guy while the US marshal director tells him he'll be sent back to Bulgaria. Again, this is supposed to be serious but I was laughing at how the scene played out. I imagine once they left and are riding in the ambulance and go to a McDonald's, the cashier gives Winston the stink eye and is about to pull out a gun. Madolyn will kill him too! (That's probably in Flight Risk 2).

The ending literally had Hasan (Maaz Ali/Monib Abhat), firefighters and EMTs stare at Madolyn and Winston in the ambulance while Winston nestles his head against Madolyn. I was again laughing.

If you watch the movie as a comedy, this is a 5 star classic. If you watch it as a serious drama or expecting it to be a functional movie, 1/2 star. If this is what Mel Gibson wants Hollywood to be and to get rid of the 'woke' agenda, we're in serious trouble.

 

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Except for Bill Pullman, a lot of the acting for this movie isn't very good and the script isn't very good either. It seems a bit like an early 2000s "Made for TV" movie in how the performances and direction is.

There weren't a lot of highlights or truly memorable performances.

This reminds me of my opinion of The Cable, doesn't work as a comedy but does work if you accept it and watch it as a Noir about man who accidentally befriends a lunatic who then attempts to wreck his life. If they had played it straight it could have been Jim Carrey's entry into dramatic work

[driver]

Watched Blink Twice and liked it.

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today....

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) (Netflix, leaving on 1/31) - 3.5/5 stars

Spoiler

Yes, it's a studio film but it's a fun to watch studio film. The movie does a lot of obvious Mission: Impossible lifts (Angelina Jolie climbing a mountain was shot almost the same way as Tom Cruise climbing in Mission: Impossible II but not nearly as scarily or breathless) and some of the story aspects weren't as good towards the end (it's patently obvious from the start that Adam Brody's character Benjamin has both main characters as the target). Still, it would have been a fun movie to watch in the theaters.

It's bit impossible to have a connection with either character - Angelina Jolie is impossibly beautiful in this (got to love how they would shoot medium length shots of her with hair covering one of her eyes) and Brad Pitt is his charming yet aloof self (terrible haircut though). We never really learn who the characters are beyond the high speed chase in the minivan. "I'm really an orphan." "Who's the father that gave you away at the wedding?" "Paid actor."

The ending leaves open a franchise that never came (the TV series on Amazon Prime is more of a reboot). It's fascinating to watch this movie from the lens of Pitt and Jolie's real life relationship and seeing genuine affection they have for each other. How much of it is acting and how of it is real life is really unknown.

Still, not a bad action movie and decently shot as well.

Cadillac Records (Hulu, leaving on 1/31) - 3/5 stars

Spoiler

Cadillac Records is trying to be like Taylor Hackford's Ray biopic or James Mangold's Walk The Line with the focus on the music over the storylines and sometimes works. Most of the time it doesn't due to its script.

Having Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf, Beyonce Knowles as Etta James, Yasiin Bey as Chuck Berry, and Cedric The Entertainer as Willie Dixon would lend the movie credibility but most of the scenes seem a bit like a cosplay of the actual people than a story told of the actual people.

The movie doesn't really go into the nature of the relationships with the people involved (especially with Leonard Chess buying Cadillacs for his artists with their own money he was supposed to give them). A few of the scenes touch upon it (where Waters signed a contract that Chess said was 'like a marriage' without really understanding it).

I did like the scenes where Chess and Waters find Etta James in her house and Chess and James talk with nice usage of closeups. There's a palpable chemistry with those scenes.

Although it is a bit of a standard biopic, there's not really anything new and Darnell Martin executed the movie really well.

Ghost Rider (Hulu, leaving on 1/31) - 2/5 stars

Spoiler

Somehow, one of the least bad Sony Marvel movies ever done. It's not as good as Venom, but it's not Madame Web / Venom: The Last Dance terrible.

Nicholas Cage as Johnny Blaze is just flat out insane - I have to believe that Cage had a hand in Blaze eating jellybeans and listening to The Carpenters. Eva Mendes as Roxanne is okay at times but it's obvious that Cage and Mendes have zero chemistry together. Peter Fonda and Sam Elliott have very little to do despite having some bearing on the story.

This movie visually is a mess. There's a lot of unnecessary zoom in shots and just flat lightning and cinematography. Shot selection and compositions are unappealing to watch; everything has a 'green screen with CG' look to it so it's difficult to have a sense of the characters being in a location with the scenes.

The Penance stare scenes with people recalling others in flames did look like something out of Wes Craven movies.

Nicholas Cage and Eva Mendes try but can't save this.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (Hulu, leaving on 1/31) - 2/5 stars

Spoiler

The weird thing with this movie is it's overall better than Ghost Rider and has better cinematography and director choices but worse story wise than Ghost Rider. On it's own, it's a completely separate movie. It's not really a sequel as much as it's a reboot of the series.

The problem is Sony/Columbia never followed up on the story threads started with either movie.

I did like the Terminator 2: Judgment Day like relationship between Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage) and Danny (Fergus Riordian) and Cage is absolutely wild in this movie with the one-liners and ad-libs.

Cinematography wise I loved the opening chase with Idris Elba and how that was shot. The scene in the dig site is another highlight for me with how they had variety of angles and shots. It did veer to being a bit gimmicky with the camera angles used though.

The Cowboy And The Frenchman (Mubi, leaving on 2/16) - 3/5 stars

Spoiler

Basically, stereotypes taken to absurdity. I got a laugh out of Harry Dean Stanton not being able to hear anything and then saying back what the person he's talking to said he would do.

I think there's a deeper meaning, but with David Lynch probably not.

 

[odessasteps]

I'd rather watch the Hitchcock Mr and Mrs Smith, his only screwball comedy. 

[Curt McGirt]

4 hours ago, zendragon said:

This reminds me of my opinion of The Cable Guy, doesn't work as a comedy but does work if you accept it and watch it as a Noir about man who accidentally befriends a lunatic who then attempts to wreck his life. If they had played it straight it could have been Jim Carrey's entry into dramatic work

I have seen few Carrey films but I think I saw that in the theater? And liked if for exactly those reasons. I'll vote for it on our Discord's Carrey poll when it shows up. 

Cadillac Records was good. Watch Drive Angry since you already did the two Cage Ghost Riders, it's superior and basically the same character. 

[J.H.]

Kill The Irishman is one of those "The Jets don't play til 4:15 this afternoon so I need a movie that doesn't require my complete attention while I help the 6 year old with her crafts project" movie.

I like everybody in the movie, it moves along briskly and the obligatory "HEY! PAUL SORVINO" sighting. It's not a bad movie while not being actively good.

James

Edited January 30 by J.H.

[Dolfan in NYC]

DOLFAN WATCHES THE OSCAR NOMINEES SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO

DUNE PART 2 - Better than the first.  It's here because Denis Villenueve somehow got everyone to let him make a 7 hour Dune movie... and it somehow worked and ruled.  It's not going to win.

WICKED PART 1 - "We deserve each other, me and BOK."  Terrific fun, very queer, excellent performances by everyone.  It's got an *outside* shot, but it's doubtful to win.

EMILIA PEREZ - 13 nominations.... My feelings are, the Academy so was falling all over itself to award a trans-focused film, they never stopped to ask if it was a good film.  It was fine...  (Aside from Selena Gomez who was... yikes.)  Has a solid shot to win, by no means should it win. 

THE SUBSTANCE - NOW WE'RE TALKIN'....  Innovative, bold, and strong message too.  Demi needs to win for this.  This should win... will it?  I'm honestly not sure. 

4 down, 6 to go.

[Zimbra]

16 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

The book of Kill the Irishman is better, yeah. I wasn't much a fan of the movie even though I love gangster crud more than most. It just makes Stevenson out to be too nice a guy, almost some kind of hero for defending himself when he's on A STRING OF PUBLIC BOMBINGS. He wasn't no good Union man, he was a corrupt motherfucker involved with the mob. 

Also, for a tale of public bombings, read up the way wilder stuff that went on in Philly and up in Montreal involving the Hell's Angels. Those stories make the Irishman tale look pretty small in comparison. 

The wikipedia pages on the quebec biker wars are an excellent way to kill a few hours.

[driver]

Quebec Biker Wars when you go beneath the surface of the clubs and find out it involved Haitian immigrants, The Bloods and The Mafia gets way more interesting. Then you find out the Hells Angels leader's right hand man was a Haitian immigrant who was known as "The Godfather" and it's pretty damned intriguing.

[Curt McGirt]

Yeah, there's a series called Hell's Angels: Ride or Die that showed up on Vice that details all that shit and it's WILD. 

Also, the Canadian Mafia is still in big, big business, and always has been.

[Travis Sheldon]

2 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Also, the Canadian Mafia is still in big, big business, and always has been.

I've seen one of the documentaries on this subject, think it's called The Trailer Park Boys.

Scary stuff going on there.

It's why we need more border security.

[Curt McGirt]

I just found and posted this on the Discord today 

Border, pffff. Dem boys couldn't make it past the King of Donair. 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today....going on a cruise this upcoming weekend / next week so this thread won't have my usual maniac movie watching. A site I follow have a bunch of movies from Hulu/Max/Peacock leaving next month so I don't know if I'll be lucky enough to get done.

Good Time (Max, leaving on 2/28) - 5/5 stars

Spoiler

If The Safdie Brothers do nothing else after this and Uncut Gems, they would have done more in their careers than some filmmakers do in their lifetime.

In a lot of ways, the movie is almost a combination of Michael Mann and Italian Neorealism of Di Sica. Connie (Robert Pattinson) and his brother Nick (Benny Safdie) are would-be bank robbers that almost escape; Nick sees the cops and starts a foot chase through a mall with his brother behind him. Nick ends up not escaping and goes to Rikers Island.

What I found interesting is Safdie's portrayal of Nick is not played up for humor but instead tries to be as true to life as possible. While it's somewhat uneasy for me to see an actor act as though they are disabled, Safdie tries to straddle the line for that. I found the introductory scenes with Nick and the psychiatrist Peter touching as Nick recalls a memory of his grandmother that resulted in violence.

Connie as a character is desperate and manipulative. Connie serves as an interesting counterpoint to the later Howie Bling from Uncut Gems; Connie is completely cool the entire time while Howie is utterly maniacal in getting the money for his sports bet. There is a sense throughout watching the movie that the walls are closing in on Connie; he makes out with a 16 year old girl when his face appears on local news, he smashes up the hard drive in the amusement park.

Sheer brazenness and safeguards that are there are kicked down by Connie; Connie is able to walk into a bank and writes notes back and forth to get the money, he's able to hide while a guard grabs a drink to free the person he thinks is his brother, and he wheels the person right out of the hospital without anyone asking him who he is or what he is doing. The two people in the elevator that he sees just ignore him.

A scene that echoes a lot of the scenes in Uncut Gems was when Connie and his girlfriend Corey (Jennifer Jason Leigh) try to use her mother's credit card to pay for the bail and it is declined. The way the scenes are shot demonstrate this with the multiple actions happening on screen at once (the bail bondsman calling the judge's office, Corey trying to use her credit card, Connie standing watching both, then Corey getting a phone call about the credit card and the mother declining the purchase, then Corey and Connie having to leave).

What was the most anxiety inducing for me was Connie worming his way into the apartment of the woman that he saw on the bus and take advantage of her. Her teenage grand-daughter either doesn't know or doesn't care as she's taken advantage of by Connie; Connie manipulates their kindness with his usage of "God bless you" and gets the grand-daughter to drive him and the guy he freed Ray (Buddy Duress) to a White Castle then an amusement park.

In some ways, Ray and Connie search for the money recalls a bit of the funhouse scenes in The Lady From Shanghai; the only difference is Good Time doesn't alter the visual representative of the actors with funhouse mirrors and instead has the darkness of the attraction present the shadowy parts of the characters' lives.

I found the final scenes interesting; the psychiatrist doesn't tell Nick exactly what happened to his brother Connie other than 'he did the right thing.' What this right thing is comes across as completely unclear. Was it Connie serving time or something else?

Throughout the movie I loved the cinematography and the camerawork for this movie. There's a lot of usage of greens and yellows and the lighting has a mixture of darkened lighting and fluorescent lighting (from places like the hospital and the apartment complex Ray and Connie hide in). The soundtrack is absolutely incredible and leans into the Michael Mann influence the movie has.

Television seems to serve a role in the movie - Nick gets in a fight over changing channels and not wanting to watch Law & Order while Connie doesn't want to watch Cops due to "I don't want to hear them try to justify this" in the arrest of an older woman. The police is viewed as the enemy of everyone, both black and white. It says a lot about individuals' desperation that people like Connie had to do what's depicted in the movie.

I won't look at a Sprite bottle the same way again though.

The Ballad of Lefty Brown (Max, leaving on 2/28) - 3/5 stars

Spoiler

Beautifully shot Western although a tad thin story wise. Lefty Brown (Bill Pullman) sees his best friend Eddie (Peter Fonda) killed and is on the way to track who did it.

A lot of incredible landscape shots (I loved one shot near night time with Lefty riding a horse). The movie begins to lose it's way a bit with the introduction of a conspiracy to have Eddie killed and having it orchestrated by the Governor James Bierce (Jim Caviezel). It is pretty much a sum of the inspirations (that's posted on Letterboxd) but doesn't really add that much new to the Western genre.

Still, I would love to see more Westerns from Jared Moshe beyond this and Dead Man's Burden (another one I need to watch).

The Farewell (Max, leaving on 2/28) - 4.5/5 stars

Spoiler

"I told you I was ill." -Spike Milligan

Awkwafina (Billi) perfectly captures the difficulty of being away from her family for an extended period and the cross cultural differences that arise. Her character is no longer regarded as Chinese as much as she's regarded as American.

Throughout the entire movie, there's a gnawing feeling that one of the family members will reveal the truth to Nai Nai (Zhao Shu-zhen) about her diagnosis. It feels like it will happen during a dinner scene, or at the wedding or at the graveyard.

What makes this movie work so well is the universal yet poignant helplessness that people with family members dying of cancer find themselves in.

The cinematography with this is incredible - I loved the camerawork when Billi arrives from America to Nai Nai's apartment. The camera is facing everyone at the table and they all turn to look towards Billi/the camera. The wedding even uses a similar camera setup to That ‘70s Show where the camera 'spins' to face someone at the table during a drinking contest.

The other scenes I love is everyone walking down the road and you see them in slow motion (the final shot on Awkwafina in the scene would have been a perfect ending). I love the sequence set to Leonard Cohen's "Come Healing" as Billi returns back to America and just stands exhausted in her living room.

I even liked the final shot as the birds fly away as Billi does the exercise Nai Nai taught her.

For the most part, a relatively perfect film.

Tiny Furniture (Max, leaving on 2/28) - 3/5 stars

Spoiler

I somehow completely missed seeing Girls on HBO (at the time it came out I was living with my parents, working menial jobs at call centers, and fell into a rabbit hole of doing trophy hunting on PlayStation which is not as fun as it would be otherwise).

Seeing this, Tiny Furniture is within the realm of other 'mumblecore' films that take their influences from John Cassavetes and Eric Rohmer. Aura (Lena Dunham) is listless, depressed and bored in a post-college/master's degree life where she got a degree in film theory and having to move back with her successful mother Siri (Laurie Simmons) and her sister Nadine (Cyrus Grace Dunham). The interesting thing about the movie and about the character Aura is she never once talks about watching films or talks about films (except for that one time where taking an Ambien while watching Picnic At Hanging Rock comes up). It is determined that she will be successful with making movies while not actually consuming movies. Aura laments with Keith (David Call) that he found 'that one thing' to do with his life while she hasn't. "The truth is I fucking hate it here," he says.

Tiny Furniture as a movie isn't going to be exciting or that moving. A lot of the drama of the movie is with arguments Aura has with her sister and with her mother about her life (the biggest blowup is her mother Siri clamping down on her drinking her wine and Aura feeling like they are crowding her).

 

Edited January 31 by Andrew POE!

[odessasteps]

If only you were going on the tcm cruise. Two birds, one stone. 

[Curt McGirt]

I have to seriously question what apps you have on your phone, your access to a television or a laptop, your WiFi access on the cruise...  

[odessasteps]

From my understanding, based on people who have gone on cruises post Pandemic, the wifi is not terrible. I presume they have satellite coverage. I will have to ask one of the guys at work who has done them. 

First thing that came up searching 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/cruise-line-wi-fi-and-internet-packages?source=133828&suppressTabs=1&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4-y8BhC3ARIsAHmjC_HbLfx2Kt-3983CqXeF7rscDD4Yh7cpGZRrh411Xe-PGJDVLZr6pasaArg9EALw_wcB&recId=78273a91ad7942434c9d38666330a39f

Edited January 31 by odessasteps

[Curt McGirt]

I could see it being a "you pay for WiFi" situation considering it's a cruise. 

[Andrew POE!]

Yeah, I'll probably pay for Wifi but not sure I want to spend my entire cruise watching movies on my laptop. So maybe I'll get a few in lol.

[Dolfan in NYC]

Having grown up in SoFlo I've been on a fuckton of cruises.  Here's what I'll tell you... 

No one should tell you how to spend your vacation. That's what's great about cruises.  If you want to go see a show you can do that.  If you want to read a book poolside do that. If you want to go exploring some place you've never been, go do that.  And if you want to casually snack on tasty food while you stream some obscure movie you've never seen before, it's your vacation, enjoy it however you want.  

The most important thing, is you have fun.

[Curt McGirt]

See, now I feel like somebody's drug dealer who said "you just need one more hit for the road, right?"

[zendragon]

8 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

Yeah, I'll probably pay for Wifi but not sure I want to spend my entire cruise watching movies on my laptop. So maybe I'll get a few in lol.

If you are going on a cruise its okay takes some time relaxing on deck with either a book or a movie. It's also perfectly acceptable to decompress at the end of a day with a movie in the cabin

[jaedmc]

I made a video about my 10 favorite "new to me" movies I watched in 2024.

Also, did you know that French Kiss is not available to stream?

 

[driver]

I took one for the board and watched Dark Match. It was way better than it had any right to be and that's due mainly to the two leads(Steve Ogg, Ayisha Issa). Enough gore for those that like that thing and the matches have to be seen. Pretty sure this was made on a small budget, but it seems they made the most of it. The ending is a bit batshit, but then again pro wrestling as a whole can be as well. Also Jericho is just there, not particularly menacing, he's just there.

[Andrew POE!]

Yay! I watched some movies in a hotel room. "Just one more for the road," like @Curt McGirt says.

I, Tonya (Max, leaving on 2/28) - 4.5/5 stars

Spoiler

When I was in middle school, I knew kids that were made fun of for being poor. Every day, a kid I knew came to middle school and was dropped off by his mother, who has a cigarette hanging off her mouth and yelling at him. He would walk in to one of the side doors, with a look that was a combination of "don't fuck with me" and immense sadness.

I, Tonya is a perfect encapsulation of that world.

Margot Robbie plays Tonya Harding, who simply by virtue of not Looking A Certain Way or Acting A Certain Way, is doomed from the start in the world of figure skating. Judges don't like her outfits. Judges don't like her behavior. Judges don't think she conforms to what they think a figure skater should look. In the 1990s (and before that really), figure skaters were thought of being Barbie dolls with skates (which makes Robbie's later role as Barbie and Harley Quinn in both Suicide Squad movies an interesting/almost DeNiro acting choice - she's trying to say something about the value placed on women obviously).

With this movie (and as a lot of professional critics point out), Craig Gillespie knowingly used a lot of what Martin Scorsese did with his famous movies like Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and Casino color the scenes in I, Tonya. This is especially true with the musical choices made and how the scenes were edited around the music - "Romeo and Juliet" having the camera focus on Jeff (Sebastian Stan) as the words were sung "A lovestruck Romeo sang the streets a serenade," the usage of "25 or 6 To 4" as Tonya Harding goes to the FBI about Jeff, the usage of Siouxsie & The Banshees' "The Passenger" at the end of the movie as Tonya falls to the mat and is flying in the air, and "The Chain" as Jeff walks around the house.

The other aspect to the story that's different than most DeNiro/Scorsese movies is the focus on a female character as the main character, specifically with the relationship between Tonya and her mother LaVona (Allison Janney). A pivotal scene has LaVona showing up at Tonya's house with a recorder and telling her 'she's proud of her.' That act, which LaVona never did throughout the movie and as pointed out in their conversation, comes with strings attached and with LaVona wearing a wire.

What I found noteworthy about that scene is the lighting being darkened as Tonya and LaVona share a tender moment before LaVona being thrown out. Similar lighting is darkened during Tonya's press conference denying knowledge of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver).

The thing to keep in mind with the movie is that Tonya Harding isn't a completely trustworthy much less scrupulous character. It can be implied that she continues to stick with Jeff for almost the same reasons she sticks with figure skating and trying to be famous in figure skating: She knows of no other life. The scene towards the end as Tonya Harding sees her world crumble in front of a federal judge is like the other times she faced off with judges.

Except this time, she can't talk her way out of it or bargain her way or be abusive without consequences.

The Catcher Was A Spy (Netflix, leaving on 2/14) - 2/5 stars

Spoiler

Movie is striving to be a Terence Davies queer drama in WWII, but seems to never really gel into a cohesive movie. For every scene where Paul Rudd as Moe Berg speaks a foreign language and does some spy work, there's a bit of heavy laden drama with a woeful script. Editing seems to be a bit off and cinematography has a 'sound stage'-y feel to it, which leads to it never feeling that atmospheric or tense.

The scene where Rudd and Paul Giamatti's characters run through a battlefield is at times undone by the camerawork and the movie deciding to shoot it with handheld cameras and a choppy shot selection.

The movie has a lot of famous actors including Giamatti and Rudd along with Jeremy Strong and Jeff Daniels and Sienna Miller but never really gives a lot of the actors (including Rudd) that much to do.

 

[odessasteps]

That Moe berg book is really good, so shame the movie isn't as good. 

Edited February 1 by odessasteps