Recent Films Dec. 2019

As I have done in the past, here are some short reviews of recent movies. There will be some references to the plots:

Motherless Brooklyn

This movie, set in 1957 New York, stars Edward Norton, who also wrote and directed the film. The title refers to the fact that Norton’s character, Lionel Essrog, is an orphan who was taken in by private investigator Frank Minna (Bruce Willis). Lionel becomes a PI working for Frank, as do other orphaned men. They make up a sort of family business of outsiders. Lionel is the most outside of the bunch because he has Tourette’s syndrome. Sometimes what he says, or the way he says them, is funny, but mostly is truthful. His honesty contrasts with the corruption going on around him. Others call him “freak,” but the criminals in this story are the real freaks of a just society. Lionel has a connection to jazz, which makes sense since that music form allows for improvisation and is nonconformist in its compositions. The so-called freak, Lionel, does hold to an honest code of behavior that a civilized world would aspire to.

The darkness of the plot fits in with this film noir story. The dialogue is stylized and witty which occurs in movies that fit into this genre. Like Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, Lionel investigates the death of his partner, in this case Frank. Lionel is smart and has an amazing memory which makes him a good investigator, despite his condition. He even wears Frank’s coat and hat, showing how he is continuing the legacy of his mentor. The music even sounds like the soundtrack of Chinatown, maybe the greatest of the film noir movies.

The villain here is Moses Randolph (Alec Baldwin), and his character is based on a real person, Robert Moses, a city planner who supposedly caused the Brooklyn Dodgers to leave for Los Angeles. (His name "Moses" is ironic since he seems to be leading his people into, not away, from moral enslavement). Here, Randolph is a New Yorker described as a real estate businessman who acts like he cares about the people but actually has contempt for them, and is only concerned with his own selfish acquisition of power and money. Could the movie be making a connection to Donald Trump? Without giving too much away, there is information damaging to politicians and Randolph that Frank possessed, and Lionel then tracks that evidence down.

Usually in a film noir there is a femme fatale. There is no such character here. Frank’s wife, Julia (Leslie Mann) did cheat on him, but he was also not a very attentive husband. The other females are exemplary characters. Laura Rose (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Gabby Horwitz (Cherry Jones) are defending the poor and minorities in the face of the demolition of their neighborhoods. 

The title of the film is Lionel’s nickname, but it may also refer to Brooklyn itself, and maybe much of America, that feels it has lost the nurturing presence that fed it on hopes of truth and justice that symbolized the American way.

Harriet

Although most people have heard of Harriet Tubman and her association with the Underground Railroad to free slaves, this biographical motion picture dramatizes what a force of nature this woman was. Powerfully portrayed by Cynthia Erivo, Harriet, whose name was changed from Minty, propels herself into action because of the need to keep her family together and safe. 

When the plantation owner defies the law that says that her children should be free since her husband, John Tubman (Zachary Momoh) is a free man, Harriet can no longer tolerate the injustice that is being perpetrated not only on her, but especially on other family members. When the slave owner dies and his son, Gideon (Joe Alwyn) takes over, he plans on selling Harriet, separating her from her family and husband because he heard her pray for his father’s death. While the father betrayed the law, the son’s betrayal is personal, because he grew up with Harriet. She decides to run away, but is cornered on a bridge. She tells Gideon, “I’m gonna be free or die,” and jumps off the bridge into the swiftly moving river below. 

She is presumed to have died, but her amazing drive carries her to the Underground Railroad and she makes it by herself all the way to Philadelphia and William Still (Leslie Odom, Jr.) of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. He helps her adapt to the freedom in the city and she becomes friends with Marie Buchanan (Janelle Monae) who runs a house for runaway slaves. In this sense, Harriet is becoming part of a new family which is dedicated to a just cause.

After a year she has not heard from her family and decides heroically to return to the South to get her husband. After another arduous journey she finds John, but he has remarried rather quickly and is about to be a father. Harriet feels betrayed since family is what is most important to her. She learns that her brothers are being sold, so she realizes that she must free them and leads her brothers and others away from the plantations. The film shows that there were some black men who betrayed their African American family by working to retrieve escaped slaves. One is a brutal man, Abraham (Willie Raysor), and another is Walter (Henry Hunter Hall). Walter is later won over by Harriet’s strength, and it seems her visions, which can predict some future events. In a way, he also becomes part of her new family.

Harriet’s father and mother stay behind because Harriet’s sister was too afraid to leave. But, Harriet made numerous trips back and forth to the South to free them and others. She disguised herself to look like a man, and she was called Moses. This ruse protected her from being found out, but the biblical symbolism suggested another person who led the enslaved to freedom. In this case, it was a woman who had the strength of character to get the job done. Despite the betrayals of others, she persevered to help her extended African American family. In a rousing speech to black soldiers during the Civil War, she compares slavery to a poisonous snake (a reference to Satan as well?) that keeps biting. She tells the troops, “Now is our time! Are you ready to kill the snake?”

Knives Out

This entertaining twisty murder mystery has an Agatha Christie feel about it, and it is quite humorous as it satirizes the unproductive heirs of a self-made wealthy person and their attitudes toward immigrants. In this case the rich man is successful crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). He is old and sick, but mentally very alert. Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas) is his Latino health caretaker who Harlan sees more as his child than his actual worthless offspring. It appears that she may have accidentally given him a lethal dose of medication. Before he dies, he tries to make it look like a suicide by cutting his own throat so that Ana will not have to deal with immigration authorities regarding her undocumented mother. Of course, there is much more to the plot. Harlan’s children and their spouses say that Ana is part of the family while they treat her like a maid. They don’t even know what country she is from, listing numerous South American nations when speaking about her. Ana turns out to be the sole inheritor in Harlan’s will, which brings up the possibility that numerous people had motives involving Harlan’s death and framing Ana for his demise.

There are many stars in the cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, and Chris Evans. And then there is the character of renowned private eye Benoit Blanch, (Daniel Craig, with, as one character notes, a Foghorn Leghorn Southern accent), who figures it all out in the end. It would be great to have more Benoit Blanc mysteries, hopefully with Craig reprising the role.

I don’t want to say much more, but pay attention to the first and last shots of Anna in the movie, and what is written on Harlan’s coffee mug. As was noted on the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, “a pleasant time is guaranteed for all.”

The Report

This movie had a limited theatrical release and can now be seen on Amazon’s streaming service. The full title has the word “Torture” redacted before “Report,” referencing how there was so much deleted from an official investigation account of extreme measures of interrogation by the CIA of Islamic suspects during President George W. Bush’s administration. 

The story, based on real events, focuses on Daniel Jones (Adam Driver, giving another strong performance), who wanted to make a difference in the world when he seeks employment with Democratic political leaders in Washington. He is urged to get some experience doing investigative intelligence work and he starts a career with the FBI. He later joins the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The head of that committee, Senator Diane Feinstein (Annette Bening, in another excellent portrayal) tasks Jones with investigating possible abuses in the aftermath of 9/11 under the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program. What follows is an exhaustive undertaking by Jones and his dwindling staff as they review millions of pages of evidence, some of which was initially undisclosed. 

The film is most upsetting as it provides flashes of torture and humiliation of prisoners, including sleep deprival, exposure to unrelenting, extremely loud sounds, bodily harm, suffocating and waterboarding. In addition, the architects of these practices, James Mitchell (Douglas Hodge) and Bruce Jessen (T. Ryder Smith) had no knowledge of the customs and language of the detainees, and no interrogation experience. The results of their techniques were assessed by themselves, not independent sources, which was a conflict of interest. The report concluded that pertinent information acquired from suspects came from rapport building using FBI techniques and not through torture, as the CIA claimed. (Even the movie Zero Dark Thirty showed important intelligence revealed while a detainee was eating, not being tortured). The Obama Administration., although it did put an end to such activity, is held to blame for not prosecuting those responsible, basically wanting to build rapport with the Republicans instead of placing blame on the prior incumbent. The film notes at the end that nobody was convicted for acts of torture. The stands of both sides of the debate over such interrogation practices can be seen in one exchange between characters. An intelligence employee, Gretchen (Joanne Tucker) tells Jones, “You may not realize this, but we were trying to protect this country from people who wanna destroy everything we believe in.” To which Jones replies, “You may not realize this, but we are trying to do the exact same thing.” The enemy can come from without and from within.

This movie does not build suspense the way All the President’s Men does, because it establishes more a sense of frustration as compared to a feeling of danger. The film is at its strongest when it shows Feinstein trying to balance political contingencies with the desire to do the right thing, and when it follows Jones’s character arc. He initially is calm and idealistic, but becomes more angry, vocal, and disillusioned as he is thwarted by those in the CIA who want to keep the truth hidden. The movie argues that determined and virtuous people can succeed in exposing those who let their own personal agendas compromise the principles of an ethical and honest democracy.

The Irishman

The title of this lengthy film directed by Martin Scorsese refers to hitman Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) who we first encounter in a nursing home as an old man talking directly to us about his life. After the initial scene in the nursing home, the movie is framed by a driving trip involving the older versions of Sheeran, and gangster Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci, in an uncharacteristically underplayed performance), and their chain-smoking wives. Sheeran’s voice-over introduces the multiple flashbacks that comprise the story. (By the way the expensive de-aging technology used here appears very authentic as we see the main characters at younger stages in their lives). In the dramatization of his story Sheeran does little speaking and even in his narrative he does not reveal much of what he is feeling until we get toward the end of the movie. Even gangster boss Bufalino says Sheeran is a difficult man to read. In a way this objectivity allows the audience to have Sheeran be the camera lens through which to view events and judge for themselves the dangerous and sad life he has led. His speaking to the audience acts as his confession of what he had done.

This movie is similar to Scorsese’s Goodfellas in its use of voice-over provided by the main character telling how he became a gangster. But that film shows the attraction of Ray Liotta’s character to a life free of the burdens of the average working man. In The Irishman there is no glamorizing of the mobster life. We don’t even see the benefits of acquiring large sums of money. Instead the emphasis is on how this type of life eventually ruins people, filling them with dread. Scorsese introduces characters and then inserts frozen stills that look like visual obituaries showing how most of them died violently. (On a chilling personal note, I parked in the exact same spot the day before Mafia boss Angelo Bruno (Harvey Keitel) was shot in that parking space in front of his house in South Philadelphia. What a difference a day makes). 

Sheeran is a Teamsters Union truck driver and he decides to make money by providing mobster Skinny Razor (Bobby Cannavale) with stolen beef. He eventually has a chance meeting with Bufalino and is represented by union lawyer Bill Bufalino (Ray Romano), the gangster’s relative, concerning the stolen goods. (The lawyer basically shows that even stealing can’t get a Teamsters man fired, so powerful had the union become). Eventually, Sheeran works for Russell Bufalino. Sheeran was a soldier and he continues that role of following orders which brings purpose to his life. He becomes someone “who paints houses,” code for a hit man, as we see the blood of one of his victims splattered on the wall of a house.

But this film, unlike Goodfellas, has a broader scope as it depicts the interaction between the crime world, the Teamsters headed by Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino, in the flamboyant role in the film), and politicians. Hoffa was associated with Bufalino who eventually brought Sheeran and Hoffa together. Sheeran becomes Hoffa’s bodyguard and friend. Hoffa even gets him to be the president of a local chapter of the union. Hoffa can’t stand the Kennedy family. There is a belief noted in the movie that father Joe Kennedy with the help of Mayor Daley of Chicago, rigged election results that helped John Kennedy win in that city. But Hoffa particularly despises John and his brother Robert Kennedy. Hoffa says, “If there’s one person you can’t trust in this life, it’s millionaire’s kids.” The Italian mob however wanted the Catholic John Kennedy in the White House. They hoped he would get rid of Castro in Cuba so they could resume their casino gambling domination of the island. This wish was not granted. The mob wasn’t happy that Hoffa donated to Richard Nixon’s campaign.

In addition, Kennedy appointed his brother, Robert, as Attorney General and he started to prosecute Hoffa because of his ties to the Mafia. Hoffa eventually did time in prison. When John Kennedy was assassinated, Hoffa demonstrated no displays of public mourning. Quite the contrary as he ordered that the American flag not be lowered to half-mast at the union building, and said in response to how he felt about Kennedy’s death, that Robert Kennedy will not be able to be Attorney General anymore. His public contempt was not liked by the mob leaders. In addition, Hoffa was disrespectful of the Italians, at one point complaining to Sheeran that too many men in the mob were named Tony: “I mean what’s the matter with Italians that they can only think of one name.” Hoffa was also very demeaning toward his staff and at one point Sheeran tells him he is ready to quit when Hoffa has him present during one of his angry outbursts. 

But Hoffa knows how to work a crowd and can display a pleasant personality that wins others over. Sheeran’s daughter, Peggy, from when she is young to when she is an adult (Anna Paquin) is comfortable with him, but is distrustful of Bufalino and even her own father, as their stiff facades mask suspicious secrets. Hoffa is an example of how the acquisition of immense power is addictive and blinding. He says, “nobody threatens Hoffa.” He gets into nasty confrontations with mob bosses, and it eventually comes to Bufalino’s attention that Hoffa, once he takes back leadership of the Teamsters after his prison term, plans to not cooperate with the gangsters anymore. 

So, the road excursion involving Sheeran and Bufalino introduced at the beginning has that ironic gangster love of family versus the desire to destroy others combination seen in The Godfather. Here the gangsters are heading for a wedding but there is a side trip to whack Hoffa. Bufalino places Sheeran in an impossible situation. He must kill his friend, Hoffa, because that way he can’t appear to be an enemy of the mob by siding with the Teamsters. Bufalino says he can protect Sheeran despite his association with Hoffa. If he doesn’t do the job, there is the unspoken but palpable threat to himself and his family. Even though there has not been an official verification of Sheeran shooting Hoffa, Sheeran revealed in a deathbed confession that he killed Hoffa, and that is what is presented in this film.

Both Bufalino and Sheeran wind up in prison for other crimes. The movie shows Bufalino eventually is the victim of a stroke and Sheeran becomes confined to a wheelchair. Sheeran’s wife died of lung cancer from all that smoking, and he finally is tearful because his daughter, Peggy, will have nothing to do with him. The assumption that everyone involved with these criminal activities will meet a horrible end is seen when Sheeran is told his attorney died and Sheeran’s response is, “Who did it?” The man died of cancer, but natural causes aren’t expected in the bleak criminal world shown in this story.

The next film is Flight.