Author: BRWC

Clodagh: Short Film Review

An elderly Irish dance instructor, Mrs. Kelly (Neachtain), is hesitant to let a talented girl join her class. She’s a priest’s housekeeper, takes care of the church, and coaches an Irish stepdance class for girls. One day, after some convincing, Kelly agrees to let Clodagh (Downey), an experienced young girl, join her class. After Clodagh watches the students perform, it’s her turn, and her dancing skills impress Kelly and Mr. Hickey (Kitson), the violinist. Overwhelmed by what she sees, Kelly is eager to train the new student, but an unexpected discovery prevents Clodagh from joining.

This short drama uses dancing and religion to explore dreams, self-reflection, self-discipline, old age, and inner struggles. The film is seen through Kelly’s perspective, and the conflict arises from her refusal to go against her beliefs to let Clodagh join her class. The reason why Clodagh can’t join is minor, but Kelly seems unwilling to overlook it, yet she really wants it to happen and must confront herself if she’s to achieve her goal.

Kelly is a strict and religious person who believes in never doing wrong, a trait she likely learned from her upbringing. She has a passion for step-dancing, but her upbringing prevented her from pursuing it. Now, she lives a lonely life with a priest and finds joy by teaching dancing. Kelly undergoes significant character development, and Neachtain plays the part brilliantly.

Step-dancing is a big part of this movie, and it really brings out the characters’ joy. The scene where Clodagh dances is probably the best part of the whole movie. It’s because of the happy mood and the creative way the movie is made. First, the choreography by Clare Watson and Lisa Watson is amazing, and Downey does a great job during the event, as does Kitson, playing the violin. Then, there are the camera moves that are really impressive, especially the arc shots, which, along with Harry Cepka’s fast editing, make the sequence really lively. And finally, the music by Fergal Scahill makes the scene even better.

On the surface, this is a story about dancing and religion. But deeper, it’s a story about a woman’s life that reaches a big decision point: whether she should stay true to herself or bend a little bit to get what she wants. It’s a beautiful and emotional short film that seems to have a message that says that sometimes people have to pay a price to get what they want.

A Complete Unknown: The BRWC Review. By Jake Peffer.

In 1965, Bob Dylan decided to change his act in the folk music scene by going electric and rock. A Complete Unknown follows Dylan throughout the early part of his career all the way through to this defining moment in his long career. Director James Mangold has been down this road before having directed the great Walk The Line back in 2005. While not quite reaching the same heights as some of his previous works, Mangold is able to put together an engaging biopic filled with great performances and fantastic music numbers.

James Mangold has always been a competent director, and this is another solid movie to add to his filmography. Working once again with Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, who has shot several of Mangold’s previous movies, bodes well for the movie as he is able to capture the look of 1960’s New York. There is some grittiness brought to the look of the movie which is much appreciated. Little things stick out throughout, whether it be the smoke coming from a cigarette or the strumming of a guitar. 

Everyone in the cast here puts in a great performance. Timothee Chalamet plays Bob Dylan incredibly well. He is able to embody the legendary singer and even get a lot of his mannerisms down as he performs all of the songs throughout the movie. The supporting cast are all welcome additions to go along with Chalamet’s performance. Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro play the two ladies that come in and out of Dyaln’s life during this time. Both give great performances, with Barbaro also singing all her songs as well. Edward Norton gives one of his more grounded performances as Pete Seeger. It’s not often that Norton does these types of roles but when he does, he usually knocks them out. A true scene stealer here is Mangold mainstay Boyd Holbrook. Holbrook plays Johnny Cash, and his performance may very well be the best on screen performance of The Man in Black.

Despite everything that works there are some issues that the movie runs into. At just over two hours and twenty minutes, this overstays its welcome. While the story is mostly interesting there are some scenes, especially in the second act, that start to make things feel sluggish. The pacing is quite slow which doesn’t help in the scenes that don’t work as well. While the song performances aren’t the only good parts they stand out and without a doubt the highlights of the movie.

A Complete Unknown is not one of the best biopics of all time, but it is an above average one. Featuring great performances and some fantastic musical numbers, this is a competently made movie that works more than it doesn’t. Had the runtime been cut down by about twenty to twenty-five minutes it may have worked a little better and been much tighter.

Rating: 7/10

Carry-On – Review. By Daniel Rester.

There’s nothing worse than working during the holidays. Except maybe working during the holidays as a TSA agent. Such is the luck for Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) in Carry-On. He has to deal with the impatient travelers making their way through the security lines at LAX. His day gets even worse once he is blackmailed into helping a terrorist. 

Ethan gets a chance to prove himself for a possible promotion by helping scan luggage. But he chose the wrong day – Christmas Eve – and the wrong lane. Soon after arriving to work with his pregnant girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson), Ethan is given an earpiece and is presented with orders from a mysterious voice (Jason Bateman). The man tells him that he must let a certain man and his luggage through security without trouble or else Nora will be killed. 

Carry-On is a simple but effective mid-budget thriller from director Jaume Collet-Serra. He specialized in making such films for years (Unknown (2013), Run All Night (2015), The Shallows (2016)) before graduating to making big-budget projects starring Dwayne Johnson (Jungle Cruise (2021), Black Adam (2022)). In a way it’s refreshing to see Collet-Serra return to his wheelhouse instead of being lost to the studio tent poles forever.   

For its first 70 or so minutes, Carry-On has a lot of suspenseful back-and-forth dialogue exchanges between Ethan and the terrorist. The antagonist has his henchmen dig up info on Ethan, so there is actually quite a bit of character backstory seamlessly woven into the scenes. Ethan also tries to find ways to signal police and his-coworkers, but the terrorist is always watching him with the security camera feeds. 

Both Egerton and Bateman play their characters quite well. Egerton brings a likable everyman quality to Ethan while Bateman is deliciously menacing as the bad guy. Bateman is better known for his comedic work, but he’s actually an excellent dramatic actor too. If you like his performance here, I recommend seeing him in the TV show Ozark (2017-2022) and the film The Gift (2015). 

The supporting cast members surrounding Egerton and Bateman are solid. The talents include Dean Norris, Logan Marshall-Green, Theo Rossi, and Danielle Deadwyler. They are all stuck with stock characters, but they give them some believability. Deadwyler as a dedicated and tough detective is good casting. 

Collet-Serra directs Carry-On competently and slickly as he brings T.J. Fixman’s functional screenplay to life. There are a few chases and fist fights thrown into the mix, and there’s even a quick and wild scene inside of a vehicle that involves clever visuals. Whether it’s the action scenes or the Egerton-Bateman conversations, Collet-Serra keeps things moving smoothly – and is aided by Lorne Balfe’s propulsive music score. 

Carry-On is too long at 119 minutes. The second half of the film starts feeling repetitive and the scenarios become less and less believable as Ethan goes from everyday guy to hero. A tighter 100-minute film with less implausible action would have made for a better picture overall, but unfortunately Fixman and Collet-Serra drag things out with ridiculous plot turns. 

Carry-On is never amazing, but it’s an easy watch that contains plenty of thrills and two very reliable performers at its center. And it teaches people to be nicer to TSA agents this holiday season. Because they don’t just battle grumpy travelers, but manipulative terrorists too.   

Rating: 6.5/10