film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Category: REVIEWS

Here is where you would find our film reviews on BRWC.  We look at on trailers, shorts, indies and mainstream.  We love movies!

  • The Retreat: Review

    The Retreat: Review

    Adam (Dylan Grunn) and Gus (Grant Schumacher) have been best friends for a long time. However, in every friendship there comes a time where one must move on with his life while the other one feels gets left behind. Adam is soon to get married to Amy (Ariella Mastroianni) and for his bachelor party, Gus persuades Adam to venture out into the cold, snowy Adirondack High Peaks.

    Whilst there they learn about a local legend, one that originates from Native American folktale – the Wendigo. Born from the bodies of men who have consumed human flesh to survive, the hideous beasts stalk unwitting travellers in the snow. Partly laughing it off, but a little unsettled from the story, Adam and Gus head out into the wilderness and set up camp.

    Then later that night, something disturbs their sleep and before Gus can do anything about it a Wendigo has taken Adam. What follows explores Gus’ guilt at having left his best friend to die, whether he really saw something in the woods that he cannot explain and whether Gus imagined it all and is having a breakdown. Through a series of flashbacks, hallucinations and Gus’ fight for survival against the Wendigo, the audience is left to decide what’s real and what’s not.

    The Retreat is a horror movie from writer/director Bruce Wemple that has more depth than a full-on jump scare killing spree than a lot of audiences may expect. The legend of the Wendigo is ripe for cinematic horror and is sparingly used, but thankfully Wemple’s story may have come up with something original before the subgenre even begins to become oversaturated.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsHvzuCilO8

    The Retreat explores male friendships, guilt and masculinity and does so with a competent and evenly paced story which may put some off viewers who wanted a chilly frightfest. However, for those who are willing to go with it they may find something deeper than they had originally imagined.

    Unfortunately, despite an ambitious story with interesting themes, by the end The Retreat may have taken on too much as by the end the tone changes and disappointingly it goes with what audiences may want rather than what would have served the story better.

  • The Lady In The Portrait: Review

    The Lady In The Portrait: Review

    The Lady In The Portrait: Review. By John Battiston.

    Its title isn’t the only similarity The Lady in the Portrait bears to Céline Sciamma’s widely celebrated 2019 film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Like Sciamma’s movie, The Lady in the Portrait — directed and co-written by French filmmaker Charles de Meaux and first released in 2017, though few eyes have since seen it — involves the relationship between a painter and the noblewoman whose portrait the artist is tasked with creating.

    But while Portrait of a Lady on Fire is by nearly all accounts a visionary masterwork, de Meaux’s film, though undeniably exquisite on a visual level, is a wholly ineffective, protracted mess with little (if any) power to engage the heart or mind.

    A placid, picturesque palace in China provides the setting to this story, in which Empress Ulanara (Bingbing Fan) — whose marriage to Emperor Qing Long (Jue Huang) one would be generous to describe as passionless — commissions a French painter to put her visage to canvas in his “magical” Western style. The meek Jean-Denis Attiret (Melvil Poupaud) accepts the task, which he first approaches with a no-nonsense demeanor, insisting the empress remain still when posing for the portrait and acting cold toward enthralled spectators who flow into and out of the studio. But Attiret’s refined manners, in contrast to the emperor’s chilly stoicism, begin to capture the heart of the empress, while her beauty begins to soften the Frenchman’s mien.

    Beyond unsubtle dialogue and the (admittedly dedicated) performances it so insufficiently fuels, little effort is otherwise expended to establish a connection between the two romantic leads. (I hesitate to even label them as such, so paltry is this film’s emotional weight.) And from the outset, The Lady in the Portrait presents itself in such a way that suggests de Meaux and his cowriters, Michel Fessler and Mian Mian, know just how threadbare a story they have on their hands.

    Scenes both dialogic and action-oriented are bloated by sluggish editing, with most establishing shots and many inserts lasting twice or thrice as long as they ought to run. Sure, many of those shots are impeccably lit, coloured and framed, boasting sumptuous, anamorphic cinematography, but no level of optic beauty can justify tone deaf pacing and cutting.

    It’s an unmitigated marvel that The Lady in the Portrait manages to last ninety-seven minutes, for this story contains barely enough substance to reasonably fill a short film one-third that length. Despite its striking visuals, I challenge any moviegoer to have their most basic need for entertainment or artistic fulfilment satiated by this film. Even the easiest-to-please child would likely start tugging on their mother’s arm fifteen minutes in, begging to escape to the dullest possible museum within walking distance, for even that would more reliably rejuvenate the senses.

  • Jungleland: Review

    Jungleland: Review

    Boxing’s violent ferocity has taken center stage on the big screen before (Rocky, Raging Bull, Southpaw), but the sport’s seedy underground has rarely seen proper spotlight. That’s where Jungleland comes in, hitting release after its debut at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. While the film adheres to familiar trappings, director Max Winkler’s effort thankfully unearths a soulful, character-driven experience.

    Jungleland follows Lion (Jack O’Connell) and his overprotective brother Stanley (Charlie Hunnam) two drifters living on the outskirts of society. There only means of making ends meet derives from Lion’s raw boxing ability, as he establishes himself as a powerful force in the bare-knuckle fighting scene. In order to make up for Stanley’s debts, the two must transport Sky (Jessica Barden) across the country while competing in a heavy-weight boxing match.

    Most boxing films gravitate towards the publicized platform of grand prize fights, with the protagonist often battling it out for pride and a championship belt. Jungleland refreshingly changes that course, with every minor conflict being a life-or-death battle for Lion and Stanley. Winkler’s film grounds itself in vivid real-world steaks, enhancing the character’s desperate escape from the poverty line with striking agency and seedy environments (this is one of the rare movies to not glorify its road trip trappings, with the character’s journey through rustic America not being played as a simplistic travelogue).

    It could have been easy for Winkler’s film to sugarcoat its harsh reality with theatrical pleasantries, but the nitty-gritty presentation evokes the character’s dire straights effectively. Whether it’s a championship fight or a brawl in the parking lot, each hard-hitting fight registers a brutal impact that aptly represents Lion’s bare-knuckle style. Winkler’s direction ensures that each punch registers a weighty impact while incorporating a coherent, shaky-cam style that captures the wild furry of each punch.

    Under all the swaggering aesthetics, Jungleland ultimately works best as a character piece. Jack O’Connell and Charlie Hunnam are still wildly overlooked despite their success, with both actors imbuing familiar roles with emotional depth and weight. Hunnam steals the film as the lighting rod Stanley, whose fast-talking and vulgar style masks his deeply-seated adoration for his younger brother. O’Connell juxtaposes Stanley’s presentation with a far more subdued performance, portraying Lion as a quiet warrior who ponders his escape from the fighting lifestyle. The duo forms a tight-knit dynamic that sells their desperate journey throughout, often digging beneath the surface of their fragile relationship (this is one of the few films where the fighter approaches the sport as a source of survival rather than a genuine career pursuit). Jessica Barden also offerings some of her best work as Sky, forming a winning pair with O’Connell onscreen.

    Jungleland is at its bruising best when Winkler and company (co-writers David Branson Smith and Theodore Bressman) adhere to an aimless approach, allowing audiences to breathe and grow alongside its complex characters. Outside of these frames, the script embraces far too many sport movie cliches, especially in its initial set-up. The first act struggles to find its voice, implementing over-written plot dynamics that bring this personal story to a needlessly cinematic place. Winkler’s film dances between a formless and narrative-heavy approach without much ease, straddling audiences with exposition that overwhelms its personal core.

    The familiarity certainly hurts Jungleland, but it doesn’t mask its inherent charms. Winkler’s film works as a well-established character study that doesn’t glorify its grounded dynamics.

  • Sleeping In Plastic: Review

    Sleeping In Plastic: Review

    Brandon Bell (Alex MacNicoll) is a competitive wrestler in high school, and despite a troubled home life he has a good heart and sees the best in people. Then one day he meets Pearla, (Addison Timlin) and they start to get closer despite one of Brandon’s friends warning him to stay away because Pearla is trouble with a capital T.

    However, Brandon can’t help himself and when he finds out that Pearla has an abusive boyfriend who’s involved in organised crime and that he’s Pearla’s pimp, Brandon sets about to keep her safe no matter the cost.

    Sleeping in Plastic is a noir crime drama feature debut written and directed by Van Ditthavong which may tread some very familiar ground and goes down the roads that many noir crime dramas have gone down before.

    The story may evoke other movies such as Blue Velvet and True Romance and deliberately so, luckily though for those who may have seen it all before, Ditthavong’s artistic eye and the great performances that he gets out of his cast are what may keep the audience watching.

    MacNicoll and Timlin also have great chemistry and the audience will believe in their love story even if they may know where it goes, but there’s a sweetness and innocence between them that is brought out at just the right times.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdtvbNSufYA

    Similarly, the supporting gangster characters are exactly what you expect, but thanks to some menacing performances (not to the levels of Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper, mind you), then the sense of danger is felt. Brandon and Pearla feel like a couple that the audience want to see make it through.

    Beautifully shot, Sleeping in Plastic is a very stylish noir drama that is never too far from an atmospheric street light or a moodily lit bar and it makes the film all that more compelling as it feels so accomplished from a first-time feature director. Time will tell whether Ditthavong will be able to do movies in other genres just as well, but if he can evoke a cinematic look as much as he did to Sleeping in Plastic then he may be one to watch.

  • Let Him Go: The BRWC Review

    Let Him Go: The BRWC Review

    Kevin Costner’s days as a box office megastar may be over, but the grizzled veteran still encapsulates his distinct persona in a variety of projects. Whether he’s leading on the big (Draft Day and The Art of Racing in the Rain) or small (Paramount’s Yosemite) screen, Costner has enjoyed a prosperous career second act following his 90’s heyday. The star’s latest frontier drama Let Him Go pits him side-by-side again with Oscar nominee Diane Lane (the two shared the screen as Superman’s parents in Man of Steel).

    Let Him Go follows George (Costner) and Margaret (Lane) Blackledge, two parents coping with the sudden loss of their son. With their only other familial bond residing in their grandson, the two travel to find their daughter-in-law Lorna (Kayli Carter) in an attempt to reconnect their family. When they arrive, they are met with resistance by Lorna’s new husband, who belongs to the wicked Weboy family (Oscar-nominee Lesley Manville is their central matriarch). In order to ensure the boy a prosperous life, George and Margaret prepare for all-out war.

    The general set-up reads like a run-of-the-mill western, yet writer/director Thomas Bezucha wisely infuses purpose behind his genre trappings. As the apt title would let on, this is a journey of self-recovery for George and Margaret, as the two try to put the pieces of their life back together following their son’s death. Let Him Go‘s meditative tonality offers a more soulful center than the pulpy marketing materials may have let on, allowing audiences to ruminate with the character’s pains while empathizing with their risky decisions. That isn’t to say that the movie lacks thrills, as Bezucha orchestrates a few tense, dialogue-driven standoffs that register genuine stakes. It all builds to a violent, tight-quarters finale, which matches the film’s quaint allures with its simple, yet effectively old-school delivery.

    The quieter approach also provides two uniquely lived-in roles for its assured movie star leads. Kevin Costner continues to display a powerful magnetism onscreen, soundly conveying the ever-beating heart buried beneath George’s gruff exterior. Diane Lane’s veteran poise delicately displays Margaret’s balance of assertiveness and warmth, with the duo creating impressively easy-going chemistry on screen. George and Margaret are the kind of long-standing couple that can understand and predict their partner’s every move, a comfortable dynamic that Costner and Lane imbue with authentic nuance onscreen. Lesley Manville also leaves a notable impression as the Weboy’s wicked matriarch, capturing the character’s verbose nasty streak as a slimy, mustache-twirling villain. She’s the type of antagonist audiences love to hate, as Manville creates a sinister presence from her relatively limited screentime.

    Let Him Go extracts a satisfying journey from its meat and potatoes elements, but Bezucha’s familiar scope ultimately limits his own film. While the script works during subdued frames, Bezucha seemingly can’t help himself at times, permeating the film’s atmosphere with sanctimonious speeches and overbearing score choices. I also wish the writer/director implemented a sharper visceral edge, with his mannered framing and over-bearing score lacking the grace to fully reinvent the material’s flaws.

    Despite these noticeable limitations, Let Him Go works as a thoughtfully-conceived throwback to the soulful westerns of yesteryear.