Quick takes on 5 films

Seems like Jake Gyllenhaal likes to be in quirky, off-the-beaten-path kind of movies, and Nocturnal Animals is the latest. Also starring Amy Adams and, one of my favorites as you know, Michael Shannon. The movie is told with two storylines. Adams’ character, Susan, is a successful art gallery owner. She is in a failing marriage when she gets a manuscript in the mail, sent from her first husband Edward (Gyllenhaal). He has written a novel and dedicated it to her. The second storyline picks up now, which is the story of the novel with Jake also playing the main character Tony. That’s the backstory, and I don’t want to give more than that as the plot gets deep. It is a well written, well directed film, and the two leads are incredible, definitely at the top of their games. This is one of those films though, that you will either love it or hate, with very little room for the middle. I myself loved it, it’s a great film that you can watch more than once.

I enjoyed Passengers more than, well maybe anyone else, based on the terrible reviews it received. Yes, the plot has garishly gaping holes and forced you to suspend reason (even for a space science fiction film), but it has solid acting from Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, and it is one of those films where the build-up is better than the eventual payoff. It is about a long distance space flight from Earth to a new planet, a path that takes 120 years, which its crew and paying passengers spending the entire trip in hibernation. Chris and Jennifer’s characters wake up 90 years early though, and the ship starts to fail around them. Not quite tense enough for my liking, but still, I’m a sucker for these sci-fi films. Really not all that bad, and an entertaining couple of hours.

I’m sure Equity is very good, but it is one of those dialogue-driven “drama thrillers” that frankly isn’t very accessible. It stars Breaking Bad’s Anna Gunn as a high profile investment banker who specializes in taking private companies public, and setting up their IPO. I know it sounds really boring, and the fact that the film is even halfway interesting is a testament to its writing. The tenseness comes from the dialogue alone as there is no real “action” to speak of. It was hard for me to really get in to this one.

Patriots Day is the telling of the Boston marathon bombing. For me, the movie is a tale of two halves. The first part of the film builds to the second half, introducing all of the characters and backstory, and shows the bombing and immediate aftermath. For me this part of the film felt very disjointed and choppy, either because of poor editing or just trying to do cram too much information into a 2 hour movie. However, it really takes off when the police and feds start the manhunt, and the final gun battle is some of the most heart-pounding action I can remember. Any red blooded American will cheer aloud and choke up a bit as well as the terrorists are brought to justice and the film wraps. Even more so when you remind yourself that these heinous events really happened.

The Accountant is a rip-roaring, nonstop action film. Even the quiet scenes are tense and exciting, because the lead is always tense. Ben Affleck plays Christian Wolff, a severely autistic man so far on the spectrum that it is surprising he can even function. His mother wanted him at a school with others like him where he would learn to be “normal” but his military father instead chose to raise him harshly. Now an adult, he has turned his strict, structural view of life and military-style training into a very different career, as an accountant to high profile drug cartels, gun dealers, and terrorists, with the assassin skills to protect himself if anyone comes looking. Seems absurd, and there are wild leaps the viewer needs to take to keep the story going, but it is an entertaining ride from beginning to end, with a couple good plot twists along the way.