Category: REVIEWS

Like Boogie Nights before it, the 2019 Sundance Film Festival feature Mope takes a decidedly murky look at the adult film industry. In its efforts to examine a harrowing true story, writer/director Lucas Heyne bites off more than he can chew in a shallow condemnation of the industry’s crooked standards.

Mope follows Steve Driver (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and Tom Dong (Kelly Syr), two aspiring adult film stars who befriend each other while working as mopes (people forced to do the most heinous/bottom-of-the-barrel acts in the industry). Instead of living their dream life, the two are degraded by their harsh roles, pushing their friendship and sanity to its breaking point.

Elevating the material to the furthest extent, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and Kelly Syr dedicate themselves with reckless abandon to their distinct roles. Stewart-Jarrett displays a raw enthusiasm that morphs into volatile mania after enduring extensive abuse, doing his best to play the character’s wild mood swings with a sense of humanity. Kelly Syr has an easy-going affable presence on screen, developing a compelling makeshift friendship between Steve and Tom while keeping the narrative from completely sinking.

Outside of its core talents, Mope does little right. Heyne’s script presents a promising objective with its attempts to portray the industry’s dehumanizing standards, including the toxic masculinity and casual cruelty present in each production (women and minorities are treated as mere objects). These negative behaviors berate audiences throughout, yet Heyne’s simplistically presents these conditions without a thematic bite. The lack of depth becomes problematic in the film’s treatment of mental illness, with Steve’s spiraling mindset transforming him into a deranged wild card without an ounce of humanity. Steve isn’t alone though, as every character is exploitatively conveyed as fame-obsessed simpletons not worthy of the audience’s empathy.

Heyne’s takes a substantial risk in his tonal hybrid approach, mixing the hard-hitting realities of the true story while implementing a sense of humor involving the down-on-their-luck protagonists (similar to Pain and Gain and The Disaster Artist). This delicate blend lacks deft craftsmanship to thread the needle, with Heyne’s shaky filmmaking style being unpolished and unpleasant to look at. The tone never feels as cohesive as it should, often contradicting its thematic subtext with attempts to find humor in the industry’s broken standards. Add in a heaping of trashy moments played for mere shock value (actual footage of a person’s death is inexplicably displayed), Mope feels just as mean-spirited as the industry it attempts to depict.

Conceptual ingenuity meets lackluster execution in Mope, a project too simplistic and tone-deaf to portray the adult film industry’s lingering injustices.

Old-school action hallmarks are widely celebrated staples of the 1980s, with swaggering action heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone ushering in a new era of dopey, yet outlandishly compelling thrill rides. While the genre still thrives today (Extraction was a standout), some of its tendencies, including troubling racial dynamics and a heaping of woefully machismo dialogue, have begun to show their age. With the latest low-rent actioner Force of Nature, director Michael Polish’s lackluster pursuit of cheap thrills highlights the genre’s problematic ingredients.

Set in Puerto Rico in the midst of a hurricane, Force of Nature follows Cardillo (Emile Hirsch), a disgraced cop who is tasked with evacuating a local apartment complex with his new partner Jess (Stephanie Cayo). While trying to get the tenets to leave, including a jaded old-school cop (Mel Gibson), his protective daughter (Kate Bosworth), and a man housing a mysterious creature (Will Catlett), a team of thieves break into the complex to find a priceless artifact.

During the Force of Nature’s tightly-packed 91-minute runtime, there are glimmers of shameless genre entertainment to be embraced. Between the preposterous high-concept premise and the looming McGuffins present throughout the narrative (the impending storm and the enigmatic creature), Cory Miller’s screenplay offers an irresistible concoction of gratifying genre wrinkles that manage to keep audiences semi-engaged.

The supporting cast also helps to liven up the proceedings, with Will Catlett mining much-needed humor from his standard-issue role. David Zayas elevates his archetype villain with menacing screen presence and slick bravado, while Kate Bosworth and Stephanie Cayo hold their own in severely under-written parts (Bosworth’s involvement can only be explained by her marriage to Polish).

None of these flashes can overcome the film’s bankrupt design. Despite having a decent-sized budget to work with, Michael Polish directs this project on autopilot, with conventionally-constructed shots ranging from dull to laughably incompetent (hilariously utilizes archived shaky cam hurricane footage). This concept offers opportunities to implement creatively constructed action set pieces, but there’s little ingenuity to be found in these standard-issue gunfights. While the project’s sheen of cheapness could be endearing in a B-movie way, Polish isn’t able to push the envelope enough to embrace its wacky roots.

In its attempts to feel like an old-school throwback, Force of Nature comes off as painfully tone-deaf. Alongside the casting of two problematic leads (Hirsch’s portrayal as a mean-spirited cop lacks the charisma to mask the poorly-timed role), Miller’s screenplay encompasses every dated cliche in the book. A hero with a white savior complex? Check. Female leads who are painted as strong, yet end up as damsels in distress? Check. Mel Gibson playing a dated chauvinist whose suppose to “charm” with his gruff attitude (you can guess the answer to that one)? All of these elements are blended with the film’s bizarre utilization of its Puerto Rico setting, as Miller’s shallow attempt to be topical feels insensitive considering the recency of Hurricane Maria.

Lacking an original bone and creative craftsmanship, The Force of Nature goes through the motions in its tasteless embrace of dated genre conventions.

Sometimes Always Never: Review – Alan (Bill Nighy) and Peter (Sam Reily) are father and son, looking for Peter’s long-lost brother, Michael who stormed out one day after a game of Scrabble and never returned. After getting a tip off on a body, they go to the police station to identify the body and hope that it isn’t Michael.

However, Alan is convinced that he’s playing Scrabble online with his long-lost son, he just has to try and find a way to prove it. Along the way they meet a couple; Arthur (Tim McInnerney) and Margaret (Jenny Agutter) who have a similar connection and are looking for someone they lost a long time ago.

Sometimes Always Never is the directorial debut of Carl Hunter, taking the story from Frank Cottrell Boyce’s original short story and who also wrote the screenplay. Set somewhere in Liverpool, all the cast who are usually known for their middle-class English accents manage to take their voices a bit further north and thankfully they all do suitably well without feeling like they’ve been overegged or exaggerated.

In fact, a cameo later on in the film (no spoilers) shows exactly how a true Liverpudlian should speak which also contrasts the more muted and carefully spoken members of the rest of the cast. Always Sometimes Never also plays a lot like a game of Scrabble, gently paced and giving its audience time to think and wonder what the film’s next move will be.

Although billed in the mystery genre, Sometimes Always Never often says something when it’s not using any words at all. There’s also a particularly dry sense of humour running throughout the film which may not impress those looking for a laugh out loud comedy, but for those who can catch it, the script is far wittier and the dialogue sounds more natural than most films that try too hard to make its audience laugh.

Sometimes Always Never is not just about Scrabble, it’s not just about family and loss and grief, but it’s about letting go which most of the characters need to do whether they realise it or not.

A very British comedy that may be most appreciated by the British and maybe even more so further up north, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

The Beach House is a close-quarter, Lovecraftian horror project set amidst its tranquil ocean-side setting. The film follows Emily (Liana Liberato) and Randall (Noah Le Gros), a dysfunctional young couple looking to escape their daily doldrums with a romantic getaway. Their plans are upended when they discover two unexpected guests already inhabiting the house (acquaintances of Randall’s dad, played by Jake Weber and Maryanne Nagel). After a drug-filled night getting to know each other, the group wakes up in a distorted reality, with an unknown infection taking the quiet beach by storm.

While no one will champion The Beach House for its narrative ingenuity, writer/director Jeffery A. Brown leaves a distinct impression with his debut feature. Resourcefully pushing the boundaries of his budgetary restrictions, Brown cleverly develops a sense of unease within the opening frames, delving deep beneath the depths of the ocean to explore the murky unknown that lies ahead. These atmospheric frames eloquently contrast the quaint calm of the beach setting, with the impending sense of doom being further accented by the crashing roar of upcoming waves.

Once the infection takes hold of its unbeknownst victims, Brown unleashes a flurry of technically-accomplished flourishes to display the horror at hand. The director utilizes fog and dizzying camera work to depict the continual psychical decay of the characters, with warning lights radiating through the mist with visceral impact. Brown’s macabre vision offers a plethora of distinctive scares while keeping the pace moving during its tight 84-minute runtime.

The Beach House’s compact nature may satisfy from a scare department, but its scanty-developed script suffers in the process. It’s clear Brown utilizes his concept as an exercise in horror craftsmanship, but his writing feels stiff and simplistic. There are opportunities to explore the pains of life’s gradual decay, whether that be in our treasured relationships (represented by the fragile dynamic between Emily and Randall) or our mortality (one of Randall’s acquaintances is approaching their demise). While that’s conveyed in a visual sense, I wish Brown’s script had more ambition in displaying these human pains with more intimacy, while potentially adding inventive wrinkles to its overly-familiar structure.

While The Beach House plays is safe from a narrative perspective, it’s twisted, nightmarish presentation offers an alluring Lovecraft experience.

How To Build A Girl: The BRWC Review – A heartwarming, British coming-of-age story that deals with class, body positivity, and succeeding as a young woman in a man’s world.

Beanie Feldstein and Alfie Allen dazzle in this story about 16-year-old Johanna from Wolverhampton, and her ascent as a writer. Starting out as a music journalist and the only female on her team, we see how she is underestimated, and attempts are made to sexually exploit and body shame her. Additionally, the film gives insight into the classism prevalent in Britain, and illustrates the obstacles to success for someone form a working-class background. This is in opposition to the “Posh” “Cambridge” boys, shown as the gatekeepers in London. 

It is so satisfying to watch, that with all of the hurdles she faces, Johanna holds on to her self-belief and heart of gold. And despite her family’s messy appearances, they are inevitably what grounds her. 

The only criticism I had would be Feldstein’s accent, and the fact that she’s not a native Wolverhampton, or British, actress. I noticed during the beginning voiceover, that Feldstein’s accent sounded a bit forced and unnatural. I wasn’t surprised to find out she is indeed American. However, the accent was far from terrible and I soon forgot as I became entranced with the storyline, and Feldstein herself.  It is sometimes nice, in homegrown films, to bring fame to a local actor who has almost lived the character’s experience. Then again, Feldstein was so enchanting, grounded, intelligent, and loveable that perhaps there was no one else who could have played this role.

I also wasn’t sure about the breaking of the 4^th wall in the last scene, surely we could have seen Johanna express her thoughts through her writing, but I know this device is a bit a of a Fleabag fad at the moment. 

For fans of Almost Famous like myself, you will love this female-led retelling, with parallels to An Education.  A classic coming-of-age tale that is raw and gritty, synonymous with traditional British filmmaking. As much as this film is enjoyable and feel-good, it is also important and socially and politically insightful. The story feels honest and true and I was not surprised to find it is semi-autobiographical of screenplay/novel writer, Caitlin Moran.

There are many beloved English actors playing funny and endearing characters throughout the film, including Paddy Considine and Emma Thompson. Music lovers will adore the rock n roll soundtrack, and fashion lovers will enjoy the 90’s nostalgia. There is a lot to love about How to Build a Girl, and it comes with a very high recommendation from me.