Queen of Glory stars Nana Mensah as Sarah, the child of Ghanian immigrants, who is quitting her Ivy League doctoral program to follow her married lover to Ohio. When her mother unexpectedly dies her plans change. Sarah is bequeathed her mother’s Christian bookstore in the Bronx where she was raised. With her planning to move to Ohio she doesn’t plan on keeping the bookstore but the more time she spends there the more unsure she becomes on having to get rid of something that was so special to her mother.
Nana Mensah is a star in the making. While she has appeared in many shows and movies, she hasn’t really had a chance to fully show off her acting chops. Here she is pulling triple duty as she directs, writes and plays the lead character. This is a well-crafted movie she has put together and really showcases her natural talent. She is the sole focus of the story, and she knocks it out of the park wit her performance. We watch as her character goes through many difficult sequences, and she pulls it off with lots of charisma.
The biggest disappointment in Queen of Glory is that we don’t get to spend more time with the story. This clocks in at just under 80 minutes and while the pacing is good, and it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome it would have been nice to spend some more time with the character of Sarah and see more of her story. Sarah’s storyline with her married lover does kind of feel like an afterthought as the story progresses and could have used a couple more scenes to flesh out their relationship. While this is entirely Nana Mensah’s show the few other cast members here are provide good performances as well. There are also some great cultural moments that show off Sarah’s Ghana heritage and that is a welcome addition.
Overall, Queen of Glory is a great character study of a woman dealing with loss and trying to keep her life on the right track. Nana Mensah is fantastic in this role, and she nails it on the directing and writing aspects as well. This is definitely worth seeking out and is a perfect showcase for Nana Mensah and her acting capabilities.
Stories that revolve around gambling tend to narrow their focus on the punter, the gamblers, those who weigh up risk and reward and relish the thrill of the game. But what about the individual who oversees the destructive actions of these combustible characters? What about the man on the opposite side of the blackjack table? What about the croupier? Croupier exposes the fascinating inner workings of a casino environment, which we experience through the eyes of a character who finds himself consumed by a toxic work environment.
As this film demonstrates, the life of a croupier is a fascinating one, as casino employee, Jack (Clive Owen) finds himself leading a life as dark and morbid as the gamblers he oversees. With a menacing and often condescending voice-over running parallel with story events, the narrative follows Owen’s aspiring writer character, as his financial issues force him back into the demanding role of a casino croupier.
It isn’t long until Jack’s contrasting career paths intertwine, as the life of a croupier becomes the subject of his next book. What follows is a detailed character study of a man who becomes consumed by his morally dubious casino environment. As his fictional croupier character becomes consumed by his own miserable existence, Jack slowly transforms into a figure reminiscent of a zombie, as Owen excels in his portrayal of an unhinged and conflicted individual. As he struggles to maintain a sense of work-life balance, Jack’s conflicting responsibilities and emotions shroud his every next move in uncertainty, which renders every scene Owen partakes in all the more entertaining.
Croupier intertwines a thoughtful study of both setting and character throughout the story, both of which prove to be thoroughly immersive. The first act excels in gripping the audience from the very get-go, as a strict set of rules are spelled out to Jack in line with his croupier duties, rules which he can’t help but break. Jack’s ignorant attitude towards this stringent rule set lands him in many unfortunate predicaments, propelling him towards an alarming downward spiral.
Jack’s tumble down a dark and morally ambiguous rabbit hole leads to a fascinating turn of story events, as his strained relationship with lover, Marion (Gina McKee) coincides with a sinister plot to sabotage his dreaded place of work. Jack soon finds himself in a disadvantageous game of his own making, as the aspirations hidden beneath his conflicted exterior lead toward a drastic series of events, which threaten to unravel his unenvious lifestyle.
The Croupier‘s strengths lie in its characters and their relationship with the casino environment, which is often brimming with conflict and uneasiness. The film rightfully strips away the glitz and glamour of the fictionalized casino environment, as Croupier engineers a setting firmly steeped in a more murky and combustible reality. Hands are dealt, chips are placed and the wheel is always spinning, as each scene set in the casino teeters on a knife edge, with the uneasy relationship between punter and croupier feeding into a lingering sense of apprehension. The combustible nature of casino customers is often exhibited in sudden and disturbing emotional transitions, which are entirely dependent on the success of each bet they place. In a similar vein to the customers they serve, the casino staff prove just as shady and deeply troubled, as their own problems become exacerbated by the volatility of their everyday workplace.
With its morbid and critical social undertones, Croupier revels in a neo-noir approach to storytelling, by embracing the destructive nature of its highly volatile environment. Jack’s destructive journey explores a side to casinos that most viewers will be less familiar with, providing a fresh take on an often glamorized setting. With a menacing and intriguing character at the heart of its story, Jack’s tumultuous and self-destructive journey culminates in distortion between fiction and reality, as Jack’s literary character grows to mirror the emotionally conflicted nature of its creator.
Having been nominated for a prestigious business award, Blanco Scales eagerly awaits the arrival of a committee to determine their fate in the competition. With the owner, Blanco (Javier Bardem) setting his sights on the coveted award, his concerted efforts to maintain order are jeopardized by a number of employees, whose personal issues threaten to disrupt the day-to-day operations of his precious business.
The Good Boss delves into the fascinating and conflicting roles of a leader in the workplace, with Blanco facing the impossibility of striking a balance between his roles as a caring friend and a ruthless businessman. Bardem’s leading performance drives the story forward, with Blanco’s warm and caring sensibilities being juxtaposed with a ruthless desire to maintain order. Beneath the guise of a superficial smile, Bardem excels in his portrayal of a manipulative and conflicted figure, whose measured temperament unravels in a stress-inducing turn of events.
Blanco’s mounting problems force him to meddle in deteriorating relationships, whilst also having to contend with the wrath of a former employee, who relentlessly protests against his dismissal by camping outside the company entrance. The Good Boss often blurs the lines between tragedy and comedy whilst in exploration of such tragic circumstances, as viewers will find themselves deviating between pitying and condemning Blanco’s misfortune, as he gradually loses control of the destructive events unfolding around him.
Bardem’s charismatic ways prove entirely fitting of the film’s self-destructive protagonist, with the leading man excelling in moments of awkwardness and misfortune. As Blanco’s patience is worn down by the stressful prospect of the upcoming committee visit, he is forced to sacrifice the principles of his company for the sake of a coveted award. The Good Boss frequently touches upon the theme of balance, which naturally feeds into the principles of a business that is responsible for the production of high-quality industrial scales.
The exploration of this theme does verge on overkill at times, amidst several monologues relating directly to balance, with the film often utilizing physical scales to promote a sense of unbalance in the story. Nevertheless, the core themes at the heart of The Good Boss’ entertaining and tragic tale raise interesting arguments regarding the role of management in the workplace.
Bardem’s exceptional performance certainly accounts for a great deal of what makes The Good Boss so enjoyable, especially in light of the film’s intriguing central theme, as Blanco demonstrates the impossibility of skirting the line between friendship and business.
By incorporating the innocent classroom game of Hangman into a string of brutal murders, Hangman follows the investigative work of two Southern city detectives, who finds themselves in hopeless pursuit of a cold and calculating serial killer. What follows is a paint-by-numbers investigation brimming with weak characters and a hollow narrative, which frequently boils down to cliched story beats and a barrage of nauseating exposition. The film’s promising lead duo find themselves unable to elevate the project beyond its shameful standards, as Al Pacino and Karl Urban turn in a performance befitting of this lackluster homicide investigation.
The more immediate issues with Hangman and its underwhelming narrative can be attributed to the nonsensical nature of its setup, which concerns the ensemble of its three leading characters. Soon after the first victim is found hanging from a towering tree branch, Detective Rainey (Karl Urban) calls his former partner, Ray Archer (Al Pacino) out of retirement, to assist him with the investigation.
The film makes no attempt to justify Ray’s sudden reemergence with a meaningful explanation, with Pacino’s character swapping crosswords for a more sinister form of puzzle. As Ray waltzes back into the lead role of an investigation following a year hiatus, Detective Rainey is also tasked with babysitting journalist, Christi Davies (Brittany Snow), who has flippantly been granted an all-access pass to this gruesome high-stakes investigation. With Rainey’s superior declaring the presence of both Ray and Christi senseless and problematic on several occasions, it is often impossible to suspend our disbelief on this matter, which is exasperated by their questionable contributions to the investigation.
Brittany Snow’s character proves to be the more culpable perpetrator in this matter, as her contributions to forensic crime scenes are often limited to the dangling presence of her trusty iPhone. As Christi sporadically records conversations and captures crime scene photos, it becomes apparent that her sole purpose in the story is to drive forward exposition concerning the investigation. Subsequently, the film is often rendered an expositional talkathon, as nauseating quantities of dialogue relating to crime scene details and verbalized emotions culminate in many a monotonous scene. This approach to storytelling only serves to inflate the necessity for captivating performances, especially from the likes of Urban and Pacino, who fail to divert our attention away from the formulaic turn of story events.
Following an awkwardly stifled engagement in their first shared scene, it becomes very apparent that Urban and Pacino suffer from a lack of on-screen chemistry, a matter which is exacerbated by the quality of material at their disposal. Whilst Urban’s authoritative nature verges on the monotonous, it is Pacino’s performance that proves the most disappointing. Hangman reduces Pacino to a subdued shell of his usual self, with his portrayal of Ray lacking his trademark charisma and energy, as his reserved southern tone often proves difficult to decipher. Considering the character’s lack of scope, Pacino can be forgiven for his lack of enthusiasm for this project, which often fails to capitalize on its Hangman-inspired premise.
Despite the game of Hangman revolving around the use of letters to decipher a word, the film shuns this refined element of mystery and instead chooses to focus solely on the identity of the killer. The absence of scenes attempting to decipher what ought to be a key story-driven clue proves to be a bizarre omission, as the film’s limited utilization of its Hangman gimmick renders it as cliched as many mediocre crime thrillers that have come before it.
The Hangman killings are dealt with in a rather flippant and underwhelming fashion, with the trio of protagonists stumbling from one hung victim to the next in a condensed time frame. Any number of car chases and crime scene discoveries are abundantly lacking in intrigue and excitement, with these set pieces failing to provide any welcome distraction from a cliched game of cat and mouse. A laughably abrupt revelation during the story’s climax concludes a one-paced and disengaging investigation, that is severely lacking in excitement, suspense, and emotional draw.
Hangman ultimately proved to be a hollow experience, with the likes of Pacino and Urban being dragged way below their usual high standards of acting. Hangman fails to capitalize on its appropriately calculated homicide gimmick, which is thrown aside to accommodate a tiresome and formulaic approach to the investigative genre, which is lacking in any stand-out moments or redeeming qualities.
I Love My Dad follows Chuck (Patton Oswalt), an estranged father who wants nothing more than to reconnect with his son Franklin (James Morosini). Franklin unfortunately won’t give his father the time of day as he’s fed up with years of his father lying to him and never being there when he needed him. Chuck ultimately becomes desperate in his hopes of his son letting him into his life again.
After meeting a nice waitress named Becca (Claudia Sulewski), Chuck comes up with the idea to make a fake online profile using Becca’s name and pictures as a way of connecting with his son. Franklin instantly becomes infatuated with Becca and now Chuck must decide how long he lets this go on before it hurts their relationship even more.
James Morosini proves himself to be a triple threat here. Taking on the reigns of not only starring but also directing and writing he puts on lot on himself. He should proud of what he’s accomplished here as he knocks it out of the park with, I Love My Dad. This very easily could have been a complete mess just based on the concept of someone getting catfished by their dad. A big reason Morosini can make this work so well is this being based on actual events from his own life. He’s able to make it feel real but is still able to add in plenty of humorous moments to mix in to make things lighter from time to time.
The approach Morosini takes in showcasing this extremely awkward relationship is one of the biggest highlights of the movie. Throughout when Franklin is messaging “Becca” we see the actors interacting with each other as if they were talking to each other in person. This visualization works incredibly well and makes for some of the movies funniest moments as it adds even more to the awkwardness of the situation. Thankfully, Morosini doesn’t hold back on the awkward situation, and he displays plenty of scenes that will make you cringe at the thought of something like this happening in real life.
Patton Oswalt was the perfect choice to play the dad. This is without question one of the best performances in his career and really shows he has quite a bit of range in his arsenal. Morosini gives a good performance as well. He starts off a little rigid but as the movie progresses, he starts to come into his own and when the more dramatic scenes happen that is when he really displays his acting capabilities.
An unsung hero of the movie is Claudia Sulewski who is essentially playing a dual role as the real-life Becca and then the “Becca” that is actually Franklin’s father. She pulls off both roles with lots of charisma and adds so much to this movie. Rounding out the cast we get some nice small performances from Rachel Dratch and Lil Rel Howrey. However, this could have used more Lil Rel Howrey as he is sadly underused.
Other than some pacing issues and some jokes here and there that don’t land there is plenty to like in I Love My Dad. With that said this is a movie that won’t be for everyone. Just because of the concept and how awkward a lot of the sequences are I can see it turning off some viewers. If you’re not bothered by the nature of the content involved this is well worth your time and should definitely be seen.
