Breakthrough (2019)

There’s a scene, early in the movie, where we see a Christian band performing.  Rather than keep it brief, it goes on just a little too long.  All I could think was that it was time to move on to the next thing.  This proved to be a pretty good analogy for the rest of the movie.  Everything about it is just a little too much.

The movie is based on a book, which was an account of a true story.  The book was written by Joyce Smith about her son, John, who fell into a frozen lake and was pronounced dead.  He makes a full recovery because of Joyce’s faith in the Christian God.  There are a few scenes where this is done subtly.  Tommy Shine, a paramedic trying to get John out of the water, hears a voice that he initially assumes to be his boss’s.  When his boss denies it, it must be God.

Many scenes are more blunt.  When Joyce is allowed to see John’s body, she starts praying.  Right when she asks for His help, John’s heart starts beating.  Coincidence?  It’s probably not that simple.  Between the fact that John’s mother wrote the book and the fact that Hollywood is known to embellish a little, I would think that there’s more to the story.

I would come down harder on Joyce except that the movie does well in portraying her as a mother in grief.  I get that she’s dealing with the possible loss of her son.  My issue is that religion is the only mechanism that she has to deal with that stress.

When Joyce overhears doctors talking about the reality of John’s condition, she forbids any such talk in his room.  When friends and neighbors are gathered in the waiting room Joyce overhears someone telling their daughter that John’s might not make it.  Again, she forbids any negativity.  (Fortunately, Brian calls her on this.)  Instead of religion being a powerful force, it could easily be seen as a crutch.  It’s like that saying: If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Consider something called survivorship bias.  Dr. Garrett indicates that he’s never seen someone that far gone come back.  How many of those other patients had family members and friends praying for them?  Maybe we’re to believe that Joyce is just better at it.  It’s because of her sheer willpower that God let John live.

One might say that this was all a way to let Joyce shine and show her faith.  She gets to tell everyone that God will take care of it.  Maybe it was to show her to tone it down a bit.  She is at odds with a lot of people, including the pastor.  It’s easier for me to believe that it was all random.  To put that much stock in faith undercuts the work that medical professionals do.  John is lucky to be alive and to have parents that love him.  I just don’t think that God was ever part of it.

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Vice (2018)

My mother asked why someone would make a movie about a vice president.  That’s how seriously the job is taken.  I was trying to find a joke to lead off this review, but I think that’s the best lead I can find.

Then again, this is Richard Bruce Cheney we’re talking about.

He’s been called a lot of things.  I don’t imagine most of them were nice.

The movie’s timeline starts with him being pulled over for driving under the influence of alcohol.  That and a fight land him in jail, meaning that his wife, Lynne, has to bail him out.  She puts it to him to clean up his act.  He promises to do so, and does he.  This doesn’t get him back into Yale, but he does go into politics.

This leads to another turning point.  As an intern, he’s given the choice to work for a Democrat or a Republican.  After seeing Donald Rumsfeld speak, Cheney knows who he wants to intern with.   The two work well together, leading to more turning points and decisions.

The movie is said to be based on the true story, but I think the actual narrative falls somewhere between satire and sarcasm.  I got the impression that certain parts weren’t literally true.  (Take, for example, a claim that Cheney won the Iron Man competition.)  When his name is floated as a possible contender for president, he turns it down.  Part of it is that he doesn‘t want to expose his daughter to media attention because she‘s a lesbian.  It also doesn’t help that his odds of being elected put him two spots below Dan Quayle.

You do get the sense that Cheney is not a nice person.  The line goes that power corrupts, but Cheney may have been corrupt already.  He was just looking for the next opportunity.  When presented with the possibility of being vice president, Lynne won’t hear of it.  It’s a nothing job.

Sure, it might serve as a springboard to the presidency.  (From the 1980 election until 2008, either the sitting President or Vice President sought the office of President.)  Still, Vice President?  Instead of turning it down, Cheney looks into how he can make the job to his own liking.  It’s like Anakin Skywalker being trained in The Force.  It’s just a matter of time before he becomes Darth Vader.

I will say that the casting is spot on.  To see Cheney, you don’t even realize that it’s Christian Bale.  When you see George W. Bush, you’re not thinking of Sam Rockwell.  Sure, Steve Carell is a little obvious as Rumsfeld, but that’s actually forgivable.  (Having seen pictures of Runsfeld, I would say that Carell is a pretty awesome choice.)  Even having Jesse Plemons narrate the story was the way to go.

So many things come down to random events.  Imagine if Cheney hadn’t flunked out of Yale.  Suppose he hadn’t married Lynne.  What if Rumsfeld hadn’t spoken to the interns that day?  It would make for an interesting alternate-history story.

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The Mule (2018)

Earl Stone is not a nice person.  He’s the kind of father that would skip out on his daughter’s wedding to talk with strangers.  It’s not that he couldn’t make it.  It’s that he didn’t even bother.  He seems to like his flower business and the attention that it brings more than family.

Years later, both his marriage and his business have dried up.  His house is in foreclosure and other businesses moved to the Internet.  Again, it’s not that Earl couldn’t keep up.  He just didn’t seem to think the Web was going to pan out.  Enter someone who knows someone who needs drivers with clean records.  Being that Earl is an old, white male, he’s perfect for the job.

As you might infer from the title of the movie, Earl is given a package to hide in the back of his old pickup truck.  The friendly guys at the garage want to make a compartment, but Earl won’t hear of it.  He has them just throw it in with the rest of the stuff back there, assuming no one will think twice about it.  (He’s right.)  Earl is told to park his car at an arranged address and leave it there for an hour with the keys in the glove box.  He returns an hour later to find $10,000 in cash, which he uses to get his house out of foreclosure.

If you’re familiar with drug use in movies, you may have heard the claim, “I can quit any time I want.”  Earl can quit any time he wants.  Except that he doesn‘t.  He could certainly use a new truck.  Then, his VFW post needs renovations after a fire.  So, Earl moves more product, which earns him more cash, which gets attention from the cartel’s management.

Earl seems like he knows what’s going on.  To an extent, he’d have to.  Except that he doesn’t.  When picking up a delivery, one of the guys at the garage gives him an address that happens to be where the drugs are going after he parks the car.  Earl decides to go there directly on a whim.  He is either really bold or really stupid.

He seems to be the only one that doesn’t seem to care how things will end for him.  He’s getting the money he needs.  He’s also getting the attention he wants.  He’s even invited to a party with beautiful women who seem very friendly.  (This is the one scene where your kids might actually cover their own eyes.)

I’m not sure what to make of the movie.  On one level, it’s very cliché.  You have someone that’s prone to making bad choices.  He’s more than eager to sign up for more, though.  It’s not until the end of the movie that he really reforms, but it’s too late by then.

There’s also the drug cartel that does things exactly like you’d expect.  They move large amounts of drugs and have lots of money to throw around.  They’re even persued by an agent that wants to make a name for himself.  It’s just a matter of time before everything comes tumbling down.

There’s also a sense that the movie was supposed to be more than that, but I’m not sure exactly what.  Was it supposed to be funny?  There are a few scenes that would play on stereotypes, but it’s hard to read them.  I could see them meant as a joke or as some sort of message.  When Earl’s handlers are stopped by police, Earl is able to get rid of them by claiming that the two other men are his employees.  It shows how Earl can take advantage of white privilege quite easily.

It’s based on a true story, but not all true stories make for good narratives.  It’s hard to say that the movie has potential.  It could have been done better, but I’m not really sure how.  That’s how low-key it is.  The movie went for such a deep level of subtle that the plot went into a coma.  I wonder if anyone other than Eastwood would have gotten the movie made.

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Green Book (2018)

In the 1930s, African-Americans were becoming a sizable part of the middle class.  This meant buying cars.  In turn, this meant traveling to different cities.  Victor Hugo Green created and published The Negro Motorist Green Book, which listed establishments, such as restaurants and hotels, that were welcoming of people of color.  If you were in an unfamiliar area, it was a good idea to know which hotels that would take you for the night or if you should just skip the area altogether.

By the late 1960s, the book had become unnecessary.  This isn’t to say that discrimination had stopped.  The passage of the Civil Rights Act made it more difficult to discriminate.  This puts The Green Book near the end of the book’s publication.  It’s 1962 and Frank Anthony Vallelonga, a.k.a. Tony Lip, is working at the Copacabana as the muscle.  When the nightclub closes for renovation, he faces a two-month gap where he won’t be working.  Money’s already tight, so he’s in no position to refuse work.

Someone knows a doctor that’s looking for a driver, so Tony goes in for an interview.  The doctor is Dr. Don Shirley, a pianist that’s going on tour through The South.  Tony is reluctant at first.  It’s evident that the two will be the epitome of odd couples.  The two are opposite in almost every respect.  Don does take the job on the condition that he be able to be back for Christmas Eve.  Before they leave, the record studio gives Tony a copy of the titular book.

I’m amazed, although not surprised, that something like the Negro Motorist Green Book existed.  Apparently, it was one of many similar publications for minorities.  I remember a gym teacher telling me about Miami Beach during the time.  Blacks had to be off The Beach before sundown if they didn’t have a work permit.  Entertainers like Sammy Davis, Jr., could perform in the hotels there, but had to stay on the mainland.

Much of the movie is what you’d expect.  We get those subtle hints that Tony’s hard up for cash, like the fact that he has to pawn a watch.  Tony also has to bribe a police officer after Don and another man are found naked at a chapter of the YMCA.  As you might imagine, it’s not a movie for small children.  Not only would they not understand a lot of the subject matter, Tony’s not one to hold back on the racial slurs.

I once heard a good definition of an odd couple, which is that they are two people that remain friends despite being opposites in terms of personality.  Don and Tony are the epitome of odd couples.  Don is everything that Tony is not.  They look down on each other at first, but come to respect each other a little more by the end of the movie.  A post script reveals that they kept in contact after the events of the movie.

For most people, I would recommend waiting for the movie to come out on DVD.  It’s not one of the more spectacular films, but it does have that somewhat uplifting ending.  (Comparisons to Planes, Trains and Automobiles aren’t that far off.)  My only real complaint is that I would have liked to see a little more exposition on what the Green Book was.  At the very least, I hope it gets people looking it up.

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Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell exactly where something went wrong.  All of the components could work perfectly, yet give you a result that’s inadequate.  I think that the film Bohemian Rhapsody had one thing in common with the song:  Both were ambitious.  The problem is that the movie may have taken on too much for one movie.  Queen is such a legendary band with such a large catalogue of music that the story might have been better suited for a miniseries.

The movie covers a span of 15 years, starting with Farrokh Bulsara joining the band that was then known as Smile.  Bulsara took on the professional name of Freddy Mercury and rechristened the band as Queen.  The narrative skips ahead, making stops at various well-known songs.  The band is shown hitting new professional milestones, like going on tour or performing on an important show.  It ends with their 1985 performance at Live Aid.

My main problem is that the film didn’t really go into any detail.  It was like a stone skipping on water.  It would make contact with the story briefly before moving on to the next thing.  The final act is much better, but doesn’t really make up for the lack of substance overall.

As I said, many of the individual components worked well.  Casting Rami Malek as Mercury was a great choice.  There were also a few scenes with Mike Myers as Ray Foster, the EMI executive who let Queen walk because Bohemian Rhapsody (the song) was too long to play on the radio.  It’s somewhat ironic (perhaps deliberate) considering that Myers was in another movie that helped repopularize the band.

Another thing I noticed was that the movie focused too much on Mercury.  It’s as if the rest of the band was an afterthought.  We see Mercury throwing wild parties and whatnot.  The rest of the band doesn’t seem to have a life outside of the music.  The fact that Brian May has a Ph.D. in astrophysics is mentioned only twice, both times in passing.  I get the impression that there was a lot I was missing out on.

This is mostly evident when dealing with Mercury’s personal (mostly sex) life.  A lot of things were implied.  For instance, we see a trucker go into the men’s room while Mercury looks on with longing.  (There were a few bedroom scenes, but nothing explicit.)

I do think the movie could have been done better, especially considering that it was 135 minutes.  It came across as the recap that a TV series might have before the second part of a two-part episode.  I think it will be enjoyable for some people, but I think most people will be better off waiting for it to come out on DVD.


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Tag (2018)

When I saw the coming attractions for Tag, I knew it would go one of two ways.  It might very well be a buddy comedy where the main characters bond and learn about themselves, all while having a good time.  If not, it would probably be a series of lame jokes held together by a weak plot.  Unfortunately, it tended towards the second one.

The movie starts with Hogan 'Hoagie' Malloy applying to be a janitor, despite being a veterinarian.  It seems strange, but the company really needs the position filled.  Thus, Hogan gets the job.  He only does this to get close to his friend, Bob Callahan, so that Hogan might tag Bob.  You see, it’s May and every May, the five friends get together for the eponymous game of tag.

Hogan wants Bob to leave immediately, despite being in the middle of an interview with a Wall Street Journal reporter, Rebecca Crosby.  Bob finally relents.  Rather than reschedule the interview, Rebecca decides to come along.  Next to be brought into the game is Randy 'Chilli' Cilliano, who is a bit of a stoner.  After that comes Kevin Sable, who’s right in the middle of a therapy session.  They all head back to where they grew up.  The last member of the group lives there.

Jerry has never been tagged.  Never.  Even if you corner him, he finds some impossible way out.  Hogan has told Bob, Randy and Kevin that Jerry will be retiring from the game at the end of the month.  This is their last chance to make him It.  The game is on.

The only complication is that Jerry is getting married to Susan.  The guys are a little hurt that they weren’t invited, but Susan had to have a May wedding and didn’t want the game interfering with that.  There’s also the added pressure of her being pregnant.  The guys agree not to interfere with anything wedding related, which only serves as a plot point.

During the rehearsal dinner, Hogan, Bob, Kevin and Randy make plants to block the exits to the building.  That goes awry when Bob is distracted by a former crush.  This leads to an elaborate chase in the woods that leaves the other three in varying degrees of pain.

There is a message of friendship in the movie, but it gets buried beneath the physical humor.  It isn’t until the latter part of the movie that they have any serious discussion about drifting apart over the years.  Many of the scenes show just how far the group will go for the game and how nothing is sacred.  For instance, Jerry is in AA.  The other four friends think nothing of infiltrating the meeting to tag Jerry.  Jerry eventually locks himself in a room, where he waits for Susan to come and bail him out.  In this scene, she seems to have a miscarriage.  She and Jerry leave, both angry at the others.

That one scene tells me a lot about the movie.  I’m not saying that a movie should shy way from AA or miscarriages.  Instead, either topic should be handled with a certain level of respect.  Both are going to be sensitive topics for those affected by it.  The movie uses both as a way to show how serious the characters are about game.  I felt it was the one scene where the movie stumbled.

I think this is going to be a hit-or-miss movie for a lot of people.  The good thing is that the trailer is representative of the movie.  There were a few things I didn’t expect, but I have to say that I wasn‘t really surprised by anything.  If not for MoviePass, I would not have seen this movie in the theaters.  I probably wouldn’t have even rented it on DVD.  I think I would have waited for it to become available streaming if I saw it at all.

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Gotti (2018)

I don’t know for certain that having a lot of executive producers is a sign that the movie will be bad, but it’ can’t be good.  Consider Gotti, which has 30 names listed on IMDb:  Noel Ashman, Barry Brooker, Peter Capozzi, Fay Devlin, Maurice Fadida, Linda Favila, Thomas Fiore, Ted Fox, Arianne Fraser, Phillip Glasser, Wayne Marc Godfrey, Norton Herrick, Marty Ingels, Anthony Jabre, Robert Jones, Corey Large, Rob Logozio, Randi Michel, Keya Morgan, Vance Owen, Delphine Perrier, Rick Salomon, Steven Saxton, Kirk Shaw, Mark Stewart, Dt Thomas, John Travolta and Stan Wertlieb.  These aren’t associate producers or line producers.  These names are all listed as executive producer.

As you might imagine, Gotti is a movie about John Gotti, the famous crime boss.  It’s framed by John Gotti talking with his son, John Gotti, Jr., about a possible plea deal the son is considering taking.  Senior recounts his life story as a way of informing Junior’s decision.  Yes, it shows him as a crime boss, but it also shows his family life.  I didn’t really get the impression that it played up either aspect that well.  If anything, it portrays John Gotti, Sr., as a horrible storyteller.

The movie is fairly disjointed.  We have two or three scenes about any given aspect of his life.  When his son is hit by a car, there’s a (barely) suspenseful scene of a car approaching the child on a motorize bicycle where we all know what’s coming.  The son is buried.  Gotti tells everyone they’re going to Florida for a while.  Then, Gotti tells his wife that it’s time to move on.  That’s pretty much the end of that.

Because of this, you don’t really get the chance to connect with the characters.  After leaving the movie, I commented that it was like watching a two-hour coming attraction.  There’s no real tension.  I never felt as if I should like or hate anyone.  When one character, Angelo Ruggiero, was kicked out, I didn’t even feel any emotion about it.  This was a major character and that was the end of his part.

I don’t often talk about acting in my reviews.  I feel that if the actors are working best, their acting should go unnoticed.  You shouldn’t even think about acting.  In this case, I felt that John Travolta stuck out like a sore thumb here.  He was way to hammy for a production that was trying to take itself this seriously.  I never really noticed it until now, but it seems that Travolta has been channeling his character from Welcome Back, Kotter in most of his films.  If his character isn’t a grown version of Vinnie Barbarino, it’s at least someone that could be related to him.  His portrayal of Gotti could best be described as Vinnie with anger issues.

I really feel bad for MoviePass.  MoviePass Ventures, a subsidiary of MoviePass, acquired part of the ownership of the movie in hopes of having some sort of revenue stream.  Oh, man.  Did they pick a stinker.  This is not a movie that I can recommend.  My parents and I used MoviePass to see this movie and it was still overpriced.  If I had fallen asleep ten minutes it, I would have considered it a blessing.  I’d watch something else if you’re given a choice.

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The 15:17 to Paris (2018)

When I saw the coming attractions for The 15:17 to Paris, I was curious to see how they could make an entire movie based on a train ride.  I suppose I could have read the book, but I still would have been curious.  The answer is that the movie tells the story leading up to the event.

For most of the film, we see bits and pieces of what happens on the train with the bulk of it being what happens to the characters as children.  Alek, Spencer and Anthony meet while attending the same school and getting into trouble together.  (The principal tells Alek and Spencer that Anthony is trouble, but they don’t seem to be any stranger to the principal’s office.)

Anthony changes school and Alek goes to live with his father, yet all three manage to stay in touch.  Spencer joins the Air Force and Alek joins the Army National Guard, which isn’t surprising given their love of the military.  Anthony remains a civilian.  When the opportunity arises, they plan a European vacation together.  They debate whether or not to even go to Paris, but they already have the train tickets.

The film is a difficult one to judge.  Using the actual heroes to portray themselves seemed kind of like a gimmick.  I realize that the word has a negative connotation, but I can’t think of a better word to describe it.  This isn’t to say that their acting was bad in any way.  It just seemed like it was done more for the attention rather than the effect.

There were also a few elements that seemed to feed into the scene on the train.  We’re shown Alek and Spencer getting the training necessary to subdue the terrorist and help keep a victim alive until he can receive medical attention.  This is especially evident with Spencer, who is shown receiving wrestling maneuvers he uses to take down the terrorist and a teacher telling him what to do in a scenario with the victim’s specific injuries.

This is a movie that’s good enough, but not necessarily excellent.  I got the feeling that there were a lot of details left out.  There aren’t a lot of twists and turns.  Most of the movie is buildup to the scene on the train.  After the scene, we get to see Spencer, Alek and Anthony being awarded a medal by the French government.  I got the impression that the script was meant to focus on the three American characters.  (Very little is said about the terrorist.  Also, in the final scene, there was mention of people of other nationalities helping.)

When I review a movie, I try to think of who might want to watch it.  I’m kind of hard pressed here, other than those who like movies based on actual events.  I think for most people, this is going to be a movie you’ll want to wait for on DVD if you see it at all.

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12 Strong (2018)

sHaving MoviePass means that I’m getting movies by the month, which makes for some strange decisions.  12 Strong is not a movie I would normally have seen in the theater.  The Commuter is not a movie I would normally have seen in the theater, either, but I had already seen that.  Still, I managed to make it all the way through both movies.  I think that’s more of an accomplishment with 12 Strong.

For those that haven’t seen the coming attractions, 12 Strong is about a group of soldiers, Green Berets and CIA operatives that were sent into Afghanistan shortly after the September 11 attacks.  The goal was to take a city called Mazar-I-Sharif.  Apparently, it’s important to the Taliban.  Captain Mitch Nelson is given command of the titular 12 that are sent in to meet with General Dostum.

Dostum leads a local army that will be helping Nelson and his men.  Before the group takes Mazar-I-Sharif, they have to go through and bomb several other areas.  The first area takes a few tries to get right, but they do level it.  Subsequent areas seem to go more smoothly.  They do eventually make it to Mazar-I-Sharif and take the city, as planned.  All 12 of the men get to go home safely.

The movie wasn’t quite as exciting as I would have expected with a war movie.  Part of this may be because the movie seemed to be going through the motions rather than writing an interesting story.  I understand that there’s only so much you can do with a true story before it becomes fiction, but the movie seemed somewhat bland.

Take the fact that they had to go through several cities before capturing the big city.  I didn’t really understand why they couldn’t go to the important city first, then maybe work their way back if they the other areas.  I’m sure there’s a reason for this, but I don’t recall it being covered in the movie.  Nelson and Dotsum lead their respective troops from area to area, blowing stuff up as needed.

The movie even starts with two of the soldiers telling their wives that they‘re leaving.  Captain Nelson even promises his wife that he’ll come home alive.  Bad idea?  Yes.  Cliché?  Most definitely.  Does it make the story more poignant?  Not really.

I think the biggest negative for me was that there wasn’t much of a sense of accomplishment.  It’s not really stated why any of the targets had any value, other than that’s where the enemy was.  There was mention of another team being sent in to take a different path, but any sense of competition wasn’t brought up that often.

When I came out of the movie, I felt like I was missing any sense of new perspective.  It seemed like this was the version of the story you’d tell to someone who had been there.  I get that the mission was accomplished in abut three weeks when it was supposed to take about two years, but it just didn’t seem that difficult.  The movie didn’t seem to convey any sense of scale or tension.  It just told the story.  If you want to see it, I’d wait for it to come out on Netflix.

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The Post (2017)

The foundation of a democracy is a free press.  The government needs to be held accountable and the way to do this is to have an independent group reporting on not only current issues but on what the government is doing.  It’s understandable that a government would want to hold secrets, especially when it’s at war, but sometimes, those secrets need to be exposed.

Vietnam wasn’t some minor indiscretion.  American involvement was spread out over three presidential administrations.  There was all manner of documentation generated by the United States Government admitting that it may have made a mistake.

Enter Daniel Ellsberg, a former analyst who copies what would become known as The Pentagon Papers.  He passes them on to The New York Times.  When The Times is bared from publishing them, The Washington Post decides to pick up the torch.  When the lawyers are called in, they promptly express fear that the same thing might happen to The Post.  The decision is eventually made to run with the story.

The decision takes The Post to the Supreme Court right next to The Times.  Being that this is history, I don’t imagine that any of this is a surprise.  It should also come as no surprise that both newspapers are exonerated.  It was decided that both papers had done exactly what they were supposed to have done, which was to report the truth to the American people.

The decision ultimately rested on Kay Graham, who took over the paper when her husband died.  The movie has her in the middle of an IPO.  She’s worried about the exact asking price, as more money would mean a secure payroll for quality reporters.  The movie initially has her shown as somewhat weak, often unsure of herself.

I don’t imagine that this was an easy time for her. It’s bad enough having to plan for a major change to the paper, but to have to add an unexpected twist?  Publishing could mean arrests and, possibly, the end of The Washington Post.  She has to balance the business of the newspaper against the ethics of journalism.  The First Amendment is the first one for a reason.  That doesn’t matter, though, if there’s no one there to report the issues.

One thing I found a little odd was that the price of the stock was mentioned in dollars and cents.  Stock prices converted to decimal on April 9, 2001.  Before that, stock prices were listed in fractions of a dollar.  $42.50 would have been shown on a ticker as $42½.  It’s possible that people still said forty-two dollars and fifty cents, but it stuck out to me because I‘m old enough to remember it the old way.

The movie ends with the break-in at the Watergate Hotel, which ended Nixon’s presidency.  (At least he got to keep the dog.  Right?)   The release of the movie during the current presidential administration might be somewhat coincidental, but the message is still clear:  We need journalists to keep us informed.  The movie wasn’t preachy about it.  It wasn’t necessarily edge-of-your-seat material, either, but it was entertaining.  I would recommend seeing the movie.

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Molly's Game (2017)

Molly Bloom could have been a lot of things.  She could have been an Olympic contender, but an accident during trials prevented that.  She could have been a lawyer, but a year off school led to assisting with high-stakes poker.  Had it not been for an arrest, she might still be the best poker host that no one had ever heard of.  Alas, it apparently wasn’t meant to be.

Molly’s Game, as you might expect, is about poker games run by Molly Bloom.  When she takes a year off from law school, she lands a job that turns into assisting her boss with his games.  She picks it up well enough that when her boss tries to withhold her paycheck from the day job, she splits.  She takes his clients with her, allowing her to set up her own games.

You may be wondering if this is legal.  Molly asks the same question of a lawyer.  As long as she doesn’t take a cut of the pot, it’s just this side of legal.  Instead, she’s to rely on tips to build her bank account.  She even declares all of her income to the IRS.  She has a few setbacks, but is able to hold her own…for a while.

One of Molly’s dealers convinces her to start taking a rake.  It isn’t long before drugs and alcohol make their way into her life.  She even attracts the attention of the Russian mob.  (She denies knowingly being involved with them, although she does receive a visit from a rather large man who beats and robs her.)

There are several things that I hate seeing in a movie.  One is where the movie is told as a flashback.  Here, the movie starts with Molly’s arrest and subsequent search for a lawyer.  We have the story leading up to the arrest interspersed with her trying to defend herself and get money back that was seized by the government.

Another thing I’d consider cliché is the downward spiral.  It’s not as pronounced here as I’ve seen in other movies, but Molly Bloom is an ambitious woman.  She makes some bold decisions that cause her to make some bad decisions.  Those that have power not only want to hold on to it, but often want more.  Had she not started taking the rake, which is forbidden by law, she would probably have fewer problems.  Then again, we wouldn’t have a movie.  (I’m sure for every person like Molly, there are many others content to stay in the shadows.)

The whole aspect of changing names is to be expected.  Even with a story based on truth, I expect a certain amount of fictionalization.  Michael Cera plays Player X, who is supposed to be a composite of several other actors.   Naming a name like that could be problematic from a legal standpoint.  The movie also shows Molly Bloom refusing to do so for moral reasons, as all she has left is her integrity.

This is one of those movies I probably would have waited for on DVD or streaming had I not had MoviePass.  The movie wasn’t particularly exciting.  If you’re looking for an exciting gambling-related movie, there are others out there to be had.  The movie comes across more as a 140-minute cautionary tale.  Then again, there weren’t too many surprises.  I’d say this is a movie where you could easily judge your interest by the coming attractions.

IMDb page

Hidden Figures (2016)

A lot of things happened before I was born.  I’ve always known small computers that could do calculations at a rate impossible for a human.  Before iPhones, there were machines that would fill a room.  Before those machines were human calculators like Katherine G. Johnson.  She, along with Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, worked for NASA when NASA was trying to put a man in orbit.

Everyone knows John Glenn.  He’s the man that America put into orbit.  Not everyone knows the team that put them there.  There were buildings of scientists trying to figure out the math necessary to not only put John Glen in orbit, but get him back safely.

There was a very narrow window with which they had to work.  Too steep and angle and he’d burn up on reentry.  If his descent was too gradual, he’d bounce off the atmosphere and go back into space.  There was also the issue of making sure he landed in the ocean.  Given the magnitude of what they were doing, the smallest of errors could be catastrophic.  This is assuming they can even figure out the math necessary to do the calculations in the first place.

Being that the movie is based on historical events, I’m not ruining anything by stating that John Glenn completes his mission safely.  Being that it’s a movie, I don’t think I’m giving away anything by stating that some liberties were taken.  Yes, Glenn specifically requested that Johnson be the one to verify the computer’s calculations.  Word is, though, that this was actually done well before his mission.  You don’t risk someone’s life like that unless you’re certain.

The movie isn’t so much about the history that everyone knows.  It’s about the people that never really got the credit that they deserved.  Johnson was both a woman and a person of color when culture didn’t favor either.  It still doesn’t necessarily favor either, but the movie shows Johnson having to run to a separate building to use the ladies’ room.

Jackson wanted to become an engineer, but had to go to court just to be allowed to take the courses necessary to even be considered.  Likewise, Vaughn was trying to become a supervisor.  She was already doing the work of a title that she was repeatedly denied.  She also saw the writing on the wall when the IBM computers were being installed.  She took it upon herself to learn FORTRAN for the job security.  (She also took it upon herself to get the machines working.)

All three women have to go above and beyond just to get noticed.  They are all fortunate to have superiors that eventually listen to reason, or at least recognize that the women are correct.  Vaughn might not have been taken seriously had she not actually gotten the computers to actually work.

The movie, like the women, walked a tight rope.  In several scenes, they have to curtail their anger.  Instead of getting mad, they get better.  There are moments when they’re told no, but they’re also eventually told yes.  They do make permanent progress, not only for themselves, but for others.  The one scene that may best exemplify this is Jackson telling a judge that she wants to be the first female engineer, just as he was first in a lot of respects.  The judge is impressed enough to grant her request.

I’d recommend watching it if only to learn who the people were.  I find it odd that it took more than fifty years for a movie to be made about this.  The Apollo and Gemini missions have been shown in film.  Those instances have usually focused on the people who went up into space.  There’s so much more to the story.

IMDb page

The Founder (2016)

I remember seeing a plaque in a McDonald’s once with the name and likeness of Ray Kroc on it.  It even had some information, although I don’t recall the details.  I wondered why a guy named Kroc would call his business McDonald’s.  Where did someone else’s name fit into all of this?

There were actually two brothers named Richard and Maurice McDonald who opened a hamburger stand.  That stand soon became very popular.  It becomes so popular that they order six milk-shake machines from Kroc’s company.

This prompts Kroc to visit the location to see why one location would need six machines that each make several shakes at a time.  He realizes that the brothers have something.  It takes some doing, but he gets them to allow him to franchise the name and system that they have for making burgers.  After a troubled start, Kroc is able to open up new locations as quickly as he can sign the paperwork.

The McDonald’s brand expands rather quickly.  The problem is that Kroc isn’t making money as quickly.  That’s when he runs into someone that might be able to help him.  This stranger looks over Kroc’s book and realizes what Kroc is doing wrong.  This propels Kroc to the position he needs to buy the company and do things his way.  This is why Kroc is often portrayed as the founder of McDonald’s.  He didn’t originate the name, but he did found the company that bought the original business.

The movie is based on a true story.  Not many people are necessarily familiar with the story of McDonald’s.  As a movie based on the facts, I’m nut sure how many liberties the movie took with the details.  Since Ray Kroc isn’t presented in the best light, I would imagine that they stuck as closely to the facts as they could.  Kroc starts out as a somewhat sympathetic character.  He seems to be a guy that’s trying to support himself and a wife, but Ethel Kroc doesn’t get to see much of her husband.

A while back, I wrote a review of a documentary on David Klein.  I pointed out that after viewing the documentary, you may not look at Jelly Belly the same way.  I think that Founder may have a similar effect for McDonald’s.  I don’t know that it will sour anyone on the company, per se.  However, you come to realize how much of the business really was business.

Ray Kroc starts out as a seemingly nice guy who just wanted to sell equipment to drive-in owners.  You come to realize that he’s simply eyeing his next big deal.  He seems to view other people as secondary to himself.   In fact, his one underlying principle is that only persistence matters.  If you persist long enough, you can accomplish anything, and that’s what Ray Kroc does.  The tragedy is that the McDonald Brothers realize too late that they’ve sold their business to the devil.

IMDb page

Quiz Show (1994)

Note:  This review does give away major plot points including the ending.  The movie is based on fact and probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the story.  However, if you don’t like knowing a lot going in, you might want to wait before reading the review.


Herb Stempel was a hero in his neighborhood.  He had won a lot of money on a quiz show named Twenty-One.  The object was to answer questions.  Difficulty was based on the number of points, from one to 11.  The goal was to get 21 points.  Stempel had won for several weeks and seemed happy about it.  The catch was that the producers were feeding him the answers.  Enter Charles Van Doren.  His family is well known.  He’s good looking.  He’s basically more useful than Stempel, at least from an advertising standpoint.  The ratings have hit a plateau, so the producers want Stempel to take a dive.  He’s to answer a tough question incorrectly.

When the producers pitch the idea to Van Doren, he is a bit nervous.  He doesn’t think it’s right, so they all laugh it off.  He appears on the show and seems to do well on his own.  Then, the moment of truth comes.  He’s asked a question that he knows they know he has the answer for.  It’s the very same question they overheard him answer in the office.  He has three choices.  He can admit what’s happening on national television and risk embarrassing everyone, assuming he’s even believed.  He can quietly take a dive as Stempel did and risk losing the game.  Instead, he chooses to give the correct answer.

He goes on to higher ratings (and more money) than Stempel.  Stempel goes back to his wife and neighborhood, ashamed that he had to miss such an easy question.  (It was a question everyone knew that he should know.)  Stempel tries to hit up the network for more money.  He could easily be put on some sort of panel show or something.  The network politely declines.  Stempel threatens to sue, but that leads to sealed court records. Stempel now has no one to turn to.  That is, until Dick Goodwin comes knocking on his door.

Goodwin is a congressional investigator looking for a big story.  He wonders why the court records would need to be sealed.  He eventually knocks on Stempel’s door and finds his mother lode.  Since Stempel isn’t a particularly likable guy and he is the only witness, the investigation stalls.  It isn’t until Van Doren is subpoenaed that anything happens.  The network and sponsor deny everything.  Even if they had known, none of the accused actions were illegal, per se.  It’s tricky, since the questions and answers were said to be locked in a safe, but it was never expressly stated that contestants weren’t given the answers beforehand.  The producers are left to take the blame for everything.

There is a certain irony in that those in charge tried to play off the scandal in that the game show was little more than entertainment.  The facts are meaningless.  I’m sure that liberties were taken with the story here.  There is an implicit understanding that this is done, though.  It’s not the first movie to do so and won’t be the last.  We do go to movies to be entertained.  The issue with the game show was that they seemed to go to some trouble to make it look like the people were actually competing.

Interestingly, this entire story ends up being the basis for the format of a particular current game show.  The story goes that after the scandal had broken, it would be difficult to get a network to buy into a new quiz show.  Merv Griffin was discussing it with his wife, Julann.  She suggested that contestants be given the answers and would have to respond with questions.   From what I understand, the idea had been used before.  However, the recent history coupled with low prize amounts got the network’s approval.

I did enjoy the movie, but I’m curious as to why this particular era of TV history was chosen.  I’m not saying that it’s a story that doesn’t deserve to be told.  I’m just not sure if there was a lot of interest.  If you mentioned the scandal to most people, I’d imagine that they’d find it of passing interest at best.  (There are times I’ve told people things that I’ve found very interesting only to get, “um…ok,” as a response.)

There is a morality play that’s somewhat evident.  Stempel seems comfortable with the lie.  The story starts several weeks into his run on Twenty-One.  We don’t see him prepped or vetted.  We do get to see Van Doren auditioning for another game show.  He’s someone that is presented as an honest person to start with.

We imagine that Stempel was probably honest, too.  His reasons for going along with it are understandable.  Who would turn down easy money and fame?  He wants to be more financially independent.  He likes the respect he gets from people.  It’s almost like a drug for him.  Stempel is what any of us could easily become.

With Van Doren, it’s a little different.  He’s already well off.  He already has a name for himself and comes from a respectable family.  He’s being presented with the chance to make being bookish and nerdy more accessible to the common person.  If a guy like him can make a lot of money, why not try to be like him?  The problem is that it’s all based on a lie and Van Doren knew it.  He could treat it abstractly it all he wants, but once he goes down that road, he can never go back.

Stempel and Van Doren could easily have said nothing and have walked away.  Granted, some one else would have eventually spoken up or made a fatal mistake.  Goodwin did find evidence of the deception going through old tapes, so someone would have at least known something was going on.  Ultimately, Van Doren will always be the good guy gone bad and Stempel will have to live with being the guy who missed an easy question.

IMDb page

Beyond Suspicion/Appointment for a Killing (1993)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.  A few modifications have been made.

When you say that a movie was made for TV, it‘s not usually meant to boost people’s expectations about it.  I’m not saying that it’s fair, but it’s often right.  Take Appointment for a Murder, a.k.a. Beyond Suspicion.  The movie is about a dentist, Stan, who has a thing for killing people for money.  Shortly after divorcing his wife, Joyce, he admits to killing someone, but in such a vague manner that she can’t really pin anything on him.  The next morning, Stan threatens that if she tells anyone, he’ll kill her or arrange to have her killed.

She does go to the police, but they don’t take her seriously.  Stan didn’t give out any details like names, locations or motives.  She does catch the attention of a Federal Agent Ron McNally, who thinks that he can link Stan to several murders.  What really makes Stan  a suspect and makes the whole operation possible is that Stan killed someone that he owed money to, which looked very suspicious.  (There was no proof, of course, but it was very convenient for Stan.)   Joyce agrees to have her house bugged so that the authorities can hopefully get some evidence.

Of course, it’s not that easy.  Stan is a cold, calculating person and would never admit to doing anything so quickly.  Yes, Stan does go over to Joyce’s new place a lot, but he’s not the kind of person that usually makes mistakes.  Plus, you’ve got Joyce’s meddling cat, who starts playing with one of the microphones, drawing Stan’s attention.  (I’ve always thought that this sort of thing is cliché and used only to add some drama, but I digress.)  Joyce does eventually get Stan to confess to murder on tape, thus sending Stan to jail for a long time.

Now, in this case, the movie does reek of being made for TV.  First, you’ve got those fadeouts every fifteen or twenty minutes.  Second, the video quality looks like it was made for the small screen.  Add to that the fact that there’s not much of a detailed story or character development.  (It’s based on a true story.)  There are three big names involved in the movie:  Corbin Bernsen as Stan, Markie Post as Joyce and Kelsey Grammer as Agent McNally.  (Don Swayze is the only other person I recognized.)

The movie takes place in St. Louis.  There are a few establishing shots of St. Louis, like the Gateway Arch, but the rest of the film could have been filmed anywhere.  The houses look like any other houses in any suburban area.  The streets look like they could be anywhere.  I guess one of the advantages of it being so far inland is that you don’t have to worry about coastlines.  (I guess it is kind of hard to put that sort of stuff in inconspicuously.)

I got this as part of a two-pack of movies a long, long time ago with the intention of writing reviews.  (The other movie was To Love, Honor And Deceive.)  Both movies were decent, but I really think I should have skipped these.  I don’t even remember how much I paid for them, but I think it was too much.  If you’re going to watch this movie, I’d recommend waiting for it to come on TV again.

IMDb page

42 (2013)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

In high school, I had a P.E. coach who had lived in Miami when segregation was still in effect.  He told the class that blacks weren’t allowed to be in Miami Beach at night without a work permit.  (If you look at old photos of Miami Beach, it’s also not uncommon to see signs prohibiting Jews.)  I’ve never known segregation in my lifetime.  However, there are still people alive that remember a time when blacks were denied service.

42 is about Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player to play in Major League Baseball.  The movie starts with Robinson playing for the Kansas City Monarchs.  He’s about to be recruited by Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers.  At first, he’s to play for the Montreal Royals, which is the minor-league affiliate of the Dodgers.  After proving himself, he’s promoted to the major leagues.

Rickey admits that the decision is motivated primarily by money.  Having a black player will attract black fans.  Black fans will pay green dollar bills, meaning more money for the team.  Since money’s on the line, he has to know that Robinson won’t react.  If Robinson responds to a racial slur, people won’t remember what the other guy said.  If he hits someone, no one will care what the other guy did to provoke it.  Papers will report that Robinson lost his cool.

Being that the movie is based on historical events, I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by revealing that everything works out for Robinson.  This isn’t to say it was easy.  Boseman does a great job of showing the frustration of a man that can’t fight back, despite wanting to.  Phillies manager Ben Chapman is shown as having no shortage of racial epithets and unkind remarks to spew at Robinson.  Robinson just has to take it.

It does have that feel-good ending where we get the sense that Robinson has made it, but I’m sure that it was still an uphill battle for him and for other black baseball players that followed.  The recent victory of an American of Indian descent in the Miss America pageant proves that we still have a lot to overcome when it comes to racism.  (We may have gotten rid of the separate bathrooms, but there are still people out there that only see skin deep.)

I normally don’t watch biographical movies.  The only reason I watched this was that my parents had rented it from Netflix and kept it so that I could watch.  I remember seeing the coming attractions and being somewhat interested, so I decided to at least give it a try.  I have to wonder how many of the facts were glossed over.  According to IMDb, some liberties were taken with history, attributing quotes to the wrong people.  I’m not sure how readily he was accepted by his teammates.  Then again, it’s based on a true story, not presented as totally accurate. 

IMDb page

 

Pain & Gain (2013)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

I had wanted to see this movie mostly because I live in Miami.  While Pain and Gain was being filmed, I passed by one of the filming locations.  I was curious about the movie, which I knew was supposed to be based on a true story.  The more I heard about the movie, the more I knew I’d be waiting for it on DVD.

The movie is based on a group of criminals called the Sun Gym Gang.  Mark Wahlberg plays Daniel Lugo.  Lugo idolizes self-made people like Scarface and the entire cast of the Godfather movies.  He wants what Victor Kershaw has.  (Kershaw is played by Tony Shaloub.)  Kershaw has a nice house, a Schlotzky’s franchise and tons of money.  Lugo recruits Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) and Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie) to help him kidnap and extort Kershaw.

These are not the brightest bulbs in the box.  Look at who Lugo has as role models.  Still, he wants the good life that Kershaw has.  After a failed attempt to get Kershaw into a van, the trio succeeds and brings him to a warehouse.  They eventually get him to sign over everything he has.  The problem is that Kershaw identifies Lugo, so they have to kill him.   As you might expect, they fail at this repeatedly.  (Staging a car crash doesn’t work because Doorbal puts the seatbelt on Kershaw.)

Lugo is the only one that manages to spend his money somewhat wisely.  Doyle snorts all his money and Doorbal tries to fix his sexual dysfunction.  So, they’re off to rob another guy blind.  This time, it’s Frank Griga, who got rich off of phone sex operations.  They invite Mr. and Mrs. Griga to Doorbal’s house to negotiate.  Do I need to tell you how this goes?

Lugo, Doorbal and Doyle are all idiots.  I could see Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson not realizing how stupid their characters were until it was too late to back out.  It’s like they couldn’t take the characters seriously.  And yes, the characters do get what they deserve.  It’s just a question of when and how.

I commented to my mother that with Breaking Bad, we have someone that doesn’t understand the criminal operations, but knows enough to know when he’s gotten lucky.  He’s also a smart guy in general.  Here, we have three idiots that engage in a comedy of errors.  This is what you get if you cross Breaking Bad with Dumb and Dumber.  My parents and grandmother couldn’t even finish watching it, the plot was that bad.

It did drag on.  About halfway through the movie, it felt like it should be coming to an end.  I’ve heard it described as a comedy.  It’s based on a true story and some liberties were taken (supposedly) to make it more comedic, but I didn’t really see it.  Yes, some scenes were amusing.  You might look at the characters and wonder if they really could be that stupid.  (Living in Miami and having worked in retail, I can say that the movie isn’t far off the mark in that regard.)

The movie took place right after I graduated from high school.  I don’t remember much about the story, probably because it was covered in the Miami New Times.  (Remember:  This is in the days before the Internet was ubiquitous.)  At least I recognized most of the locations.  I was curious how much of the movie revolved around the location I saw on my way to work.  (It was the location used for the Sun Gym.  If you want to look on Google Maps, it’s on the southwest corner of NE 81st Street and Biscayne Boulevard in Miami.  (25.849144, -80.184896)

I think that the one redeeming quality of the movie is that I didn’t have to pay for it.  If you can get it free on demand or someone else is paying for it, go for it.  If not, don’t bother.  Yes, I had to waste two hours and nine minutes of my life, but at least I got a review out of it.  There are several scenes that are actually awkward to watch with others.  I am so glad I didn’t go see this in theaters.

IMDb page

Official site

Argo (2012)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions page.

The movie starts in November of 1979.  Protesters are outside the American embassy’s compound and those inside are worried.  The former Iranian shah is in America for medical reasons and the Iranians want him back.  Six of the embassy workers manage to escape, but everyone else is taken hostage.  Those six manage to find refuge at the home of the Canadian ambassador.  The U. S. State Department wants to get them out, but there’s no really plausible way to do that.  Tony Mendez, played by Ben Affleck, finds reasons that each proposal might fail.

One night, while watching one of the Planet of the Apes movies, he realizes that movies will occasionally need to film on location.  This gives him the idea of posing as a studio employee meeting some ‘Canadian’ counterparts in Iran.  After a few days of ‘scouting’ for a location, they’ll all catch a flight back to North America.  Not only does Mendez have to train six people to learn their cover stories, but they’re operating under a deadline.  (It won’t take long for the hostage takers to realize that they’re short six hostages.)

There are also a lot of technical details to worry about.  Mendez brings in some Hollywood people to help sell the cover story.  They buy an actual script to use, hire real actors and go through the process of pretending to make a movie.  The even set up an office for Iranian officials to call when the need arises.  There are also bureaucratic problems that they just have to hope will resolve themselves.

Part of the problem with movies based in history is that you may have some sense of how it ends.  Argo tells part of what went on with the Iranian Hostage Crisis, which took place when I was only a few years old.  I saw the movie with my brother, who was only a few months old at the time.  There were a few references that he missed, like to Rock Hudson.  I’m sure that I missed one or two, myself.  (I have no memory of Carter as president.)

Most of the movie focuses on the rescue attempt.  We get to see the hostages a little before they meet Mendez, but it’s mostly to show that they’re getting cabin fever.  They can’t leave the ambassador’s residence for fear of someone recognizing them.  Once they’re out ‘scouting’ for a location, they have to stay in character the whole time.  (On that note, I’m not sure how much of the film was done for dramatic effect.  There were a few tense scenes where the six ‘houseguests’ were out and almost caught.)

One thing I thought about was the screenwriter whose film was purchased to use for the project.  I felt a little bad that it was purchased with the intent of not really making it.  My brother pointed out that it did help to save lives, but the mission was classified.  Mendez, who came up with the idea, was awarded the Intelligence Star, but couldn’t actually take it home.  This is how classified it was.  I don’t imagine that the State Department was going to let some screenwriter in on their little secret.  I’m sure projects fall through all the time, but it must be so weird to find something like that out years later.

I do recommend seeing the movie.  I liked seeing it in theaters.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to posting it until after it came out on DVD.  Another thing I noticed is that the Canadian government did a lot to help us, even jyst by letting the six Americans stay there.  I’m not sure how much that affected their relationship with the Iranians.  Definitely rent this movie if you get the chance.