
Ever watch a movie that everyone else loved, and wonder if you were seeing the same movie? That’s Close for me, which has a very good premise and was decent through the first half, but boy oh boy is it slooooooowwwww. A French film, it follows a pair of friends named Leo and Remi. They are 13 years old, at that age where they are leaving boyhood behind and starting to grow up. Their final summer before middle school, they spend every day together, sleeping over at each other’s houses at night, and often in the same bed with a childhood innocence. But when they start their new school together, others immediately notice how close they are, and point it out. The girls ask if they are a couple, and the boys make derogatory remarks. Leo immediately starts distancing himself from Remi, and participates with the other boys in whatever “manly” play they are up to. This hurts Remi hard, and the viewer is given the impression that, perhaps to him, he had deeper feelings for Leo than just friendship. This hurt leads to an explosive event halfway through the movie: Remi commits suicide. Left with a ton of guilt, Leo spends the rest of the movie trying to come to grip with his emotions. The kind of film critics are going to love, but it is hard to sit through, as not a whole lot of “action” to keep the movie flowing, and there are long scenes of silence and contemplation. ★★

Broker is the newest film from Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda (check out his Shoplifters if you have not). This film hails from South Korea though, and has a host of complex characters, each with a deep backstory that unfolds as the movie goes along. The main plot of the story revolves around So-young, a young woman who has just given birth to a baby, and leaves it at one of Korea’s famous “Baby Boxes” for unwanted children. This particular baby box is watched by Ha Sang-hyeon and his pal Dong-soo, who pick up the babies and sell them on the black market, to couples who, for one reason or another, cannot go the traditional adoption route. To the men’s consternation, So-young returns the next day and tracks them down, wanting to be part of the sale and a cut of the money. Whet she and the men don’t know though, is they are all being watched by the police too: detectives Soo-jin and Lee have suspected this baby black market and are right on the men’s trail. The parade of characters set off, picking up another along the way (Hae-jin, a boy from the same nursery/orphanage where Dong-soo grew up) and try to sell the baby. Sound dark? It should be, especially once we learn So-young’s tragic tale, but Kore-eda’s deft touch keeps it light, and the comedic moments (and there are lots of them) are laugh-out-loud funny. The first would-be parents rejecting the baby because his eyebrows are too thin? A sting operation by the cops that goes wrong when the actors can’t remember their lines when meeting the baby sellers? Hilarious! At the same time, as we get to know each character’s story, you get pulled in to their narratives and can’t help but root for the “bad guys” and the “good guys” equally. A heartfelt film with a ton of emotional heft. ★★★★½

I loved director Martin McDonagh’s last two films (Banshees and Three Billboards), so when I and my friends were talking movies one day, they urged me to go back and watch his first film, In Bruges. Featuring the same two leads as Banshees (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson), the film follows a couple hitman after a botched job sends them into hiding in Bruges, Belgium. For awhile, we don’t know exactly what went wrong, only that Ray messed up his first hit, and he and the more experienced Ken have been told to hide out in Bruges until their boss, Harry, contacts them with what to do next. Ray takes an instant disliking to the “shithole” city, while Ken makes the most of it and goes all touristy (much to Ray’s chagrin). While they are supposed to be laying low, Ray continues to get himself into lots of trouble. The film is full of the same kind of hilarious banter that pervaded Banshees, and while the director’s hand isn’t as sure, nor his storytelling as clean and precise, the movie is still very funny and well told. While the ending is completely predictable, it’s still a fun ride. ★★★½

A Good Person is the newest film from Zach Braff. On the slow track, he seems to be putting one out every 10 years or so, and this is just his third. This one is much better than his last, and while it lacks the spontaneity of Garden State (and it should, as Braff would probably have a hard time relating to today’s 20-somethings), it shows that he has honed his craft and is very assured behind the camera. Helps that he has Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman in front of it. Pugh plays Allison, a woman on a path towards a successful life both personally and professionally before she is involved in a car accident. She is the driver, but was distracted by her phone, and while Allison survives, her fiancé’s sister and brother-in-law do not. To bury the emotional pain, Allison refuses to admit guilt, blaming the construction on the highway at the time, and grows addicted to oxycontin even after her physical injuries are healed. Reaching rock bottom, she turns to an AA meeting for help with her addiction. Of all people to run into, it is the same meeting that Daniel (Freeman) attends. Daniel is Allison’s fiancé’s estranged father, also father to the woman in Allison’s car that fateful day, and he’s been raising his granddaughter now, on his own. Daniel must put aside whatever negative feelings he has towards Allison if she is going to get help there, and she needs to learn to forgive herself if she is ever going to heal. Perhaps owing a lot to Pugh’s dynamic performance, I thought this was a great film, full of tender moments while not shying away from the anger and hurt that can arise from a situation like this. Maybe a little too perfect of an ending, but it left me feeling as raw as the characters in the film. ★★★★

I almost don’t want to waste my time writing anything about Who Are You People. A couple recognizable faces (Alyssa Milano, Yeardley Smith aka Lisa Simpson’s voice), but that’s it. A girl feels like she is a disappointment to her upper-middle-class parents, so when she finds out her dad isn’t her biological father, she goes to hunt the man down. Of course nothing is as it seems. Just an awful movie. Terrible acting, terrible dialogue, even terrible music that adds nothing to the scenes where it keeps popping up, and is just distracting. Wait, maybe the music isn’t so bad then, because it does distract you from the mess that is going on, on screen. The worst movie I’ve sat through in quite some time. ½
- TV series currently watching: Evil (season 1), Star Trek Prodigy (season 1.5)
- Book currently reading: Killing Floor by Lee Child