Quick takes on 5 films

Every time I sit down to watch the latest Woody Allen film, I think, “This is the one. This time I’ll see why his films have such a following.” After Cafe Society, I’m still going to be searching. Like almost all of his films, this one too has a very “paint by numbers” kind of feel. The characters are introduced, the plot develops in a straight-forward way that foreshadows the ending before it arrives, and the movie ends with someone staring off in the distance pondering some event. This latest stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, and Steve Carell, all great actors, but unfortunately their parts here are all one dimensional and tired. Allen has pumped out a film almost every year for most of his career, unfortunately the highlights seem to be well in the rearview mirror.

I enjoyed Swiss Army man until the very end. It is a funny off-beat film about Hank (Paul Dano) who is stranded on a beach and ready to end his life. A dead body washes up on shore, who Hank names Manny (Daniel Radcliffe), and the two become morbid companions. Hank decides to try to get back to civilization, and drags Manny along for the ride. Along the way, Hank finds all sorts of purposes for Manny’s body, and Manny ends up getting Hank to look inside for what led him to this place in life. A funny and endearing film.

I picked up The Shallows from redbox on a whim, and wasn’t expecting much. I remember seeing the trailer at the movies awhile back and laughing at the absurdity of it. However, this is proof that you can find entertainment sometimes in the unlikeliest of places. Perhaps because I had stayed up all night dishearteningly watching the election results and anything would have kept my interest at this point, but I actually really enjoyed this movie. Doesn’t hurt that it stars Blake Lively either. She plays a woman stranded on a rocky outcropping near a Mexican beach, while the world’s craftiest shark prowls the waters. No great storytelling here, but it is an intense film and will keep your attention.

The Infiltrator is a pretty good film, based on a true story. It stars Bryan Cranston as a Bob, a US Customs special agent who goes undercover. He starts out just trying to take down a drug lord during the whole 80’s “war on drugs” campaign, but it gets more involved when he uncovers a huge money laundering scheme, and even a plot to take over ownership of a bank in the USA. When people start dying, he has to decide to stay the course or get out while he can. A good film that shows off Cranston’s indelible skills.

John Carney’s Once was a cute film, but the story got a little stale by Begin Again, and is now downright moldy in Sing Street. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and admit that I did not finish the movie, in fact barely got halfway through, but it just seemed like more of the same: a down-and-out main character finds hope in music and is able to piece his (or her) life back together by the end. Carney’s one trick pony needs to find a new pasture.