Quick takes on 5 films

One actress I’ve done a complete 180 on is Kristen Stewart. I used to think she couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag, but I adore her these days. Her latest is Seberg, where she portrays the actress Jean Seberg, made world famous for her role in Jean-Luc Godard’s breakout picture of the French New Wave, Breathless, in 1960. Seberg details her later life, starting in the late 60s, and centers around her relationship with Hakim Jamal, a black man and activist. This relationship, as well as Jean’s giving of money to civil rights groups, draws the attention of the FBI, who start monitoring and even harassing her. These intrusions produce a lot of anxiety and paranoia for Jean, and she spirals down a dark path. The film has some great actors including Anthony Mackie, Jack O’Connell, Vince Vaughn, and Colm Meaney, but the stars can’t save the picture. It’s a bit of a mess, despite Stewart giving it her all. She is convincing as a woman losing her grip on the reality around her and sinking into depression, but the picture feels superficial, and I felt like it could be more. Having said that, Stewart fans should still see it, just to remind yourself how good she is. ★★½

Birds of Prey follows the fabulous Harley Quinn, in a standalone picture of the antihero introduced in the DC film universe in Suicide Squad. When I saw that film a couple years ago, I wrote that I would like to see some characters get their own picture, so here we go! And the film is actually really good. It helps that Quinn is such an outlandish, cartoonish villain, and Margot Robbie portrays her insanity to perfection. Harley is fresh off her breakup with the Joker and looking to establish herself as more than just a side piece. Unfortunately, without Joker’s protection, she’s become the target for anyone she’s wronged over the years, and that list is long. To add to her troubles, she’s become entangled in the hunt for an extremely rare diamond, being chased by cops and supervillain Black Mask (a wonderfully insane and diabolical Ewan McGregor). The film stretches reality and leans heavily on the comic book elements of its origin, which is most evident in the bizarre and over-the-top fight scenes, but because Harley has set the stage for the nutty feel of the film, it all works. The film is a lot of fun, may be the best DC film I’ve seen yet (in regards to the interconnected films anyway, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker was spectacular but not connected to the others). If you too have seen this film and liked it, you should also check out the recent DC adult cartoon. It is a heavy R rating, like the film, and features an all-star voice cast. It is more humor and less heart than this picture, but has plenty of great laughs. ★★★★

Jojo Rabbit comes from director Taika Waititi, who is famous for Thor: Ragnarok but who also had previously done Hunt for the Wilderpeople. This newest picture has more of the feel of the latter, though I enjoyed Jojo a lot more than that one. The premise is a bit ridiculous, but like Birds of Prey, it works, this time due to a wonderful story (a bit tried-and-true, but well done) and excellent direction. Jojo is a 10 year old in the final months of Germany’s part in World War II. A young German boy, he idolizes Hitler, and even sees and talks to him as an imaginary friend (portrayed by Waititi himself). Jojo’s faith in the Nazi party’s direction is tested one day when he finds that his mother has been hiding a teenage Jewish girl in their attic. As Jojo gets to know Elsa, and also realizing his mother doesn’t share his own love of the Nazi party, Jojo has to look inside and ask some hard questions about his country and friends. For a story like this, it would be easy to make it a very dark picture, and there are heavy moments which the camera doesn’t shy away from, but Waititi is able to lighten the mood with humor, often at his own expense in his portrayal of a whimsical, goofy, and borderline flamboyant Hitler. I usually loath child actors, but Roman Griffin Davis is endearing as Jojo in this coming-of-age picture. Great supporting work from Scarlett Johansson, Thomas McKenzie, and Sam Rockwell (one of my favorites) as well. This is one of those pictures with a high re-watch value. ★★★★½

I liked the premise of Frankie enough to see it, but I had some trepidations. It is about a family reunion in an idyllic area of Portugal, a reunion put together by the matriach, François Crémont, because she is dying of cancer and wants to see everyone in peace. Frankie is a renowned actress (and played by renowned actress Isabelle Huppert herself) and she wants to see her adult son Paul married, and so has invited a long-time friend on this family vacation to set them up. The film takes place over a single long day, with the focus being on the relationships within the family, some strong, but most of which are splintered, or at least, splintering. My trepidations were well founded; as expected, it unfortunately comes off as a lot of self indulgent tripe. It’s the kind of art film where the actors speak to each other in ways that real people don’t normally converse, the kind of picture that critics eat up and average moviegoers leave bored out of their mind. I was in the middle: not bored, because I do not mind the pacing for a film like this, but ultimately there’s nothing rewarding or memorable about it. The best thing I can say about the film is the setting of the Portuguese Riviera is breathtaking. But that’s really the best thing I can say. ★

Dark Waters, based on a true story that started in 1998, is about a farmer from West Virginia who approaches a lawyer about cows on his farm dying by the droves, and the farmer thinks the chemical group DuPont is to blame. The lawyer, Robert Bilott, is from that area of WV, went to a tiny law school, and as such is playfully joked about at his big law firm, where he was just made a partner after years of hard work. Rob starts digging into DuPont, first as a favor to the community he was from, but then harder over time as he realizes DuPont knew about the chemical and its dangers, and covered it up for years. The chemical in question, PFOA or also known as C-8, is a main ingredient in teflon, which is used in everything from pots and pans to carpet to clothing, anything that manufacturers want to repel water. DuPont drags the case out for years, trying to get by on small settlements to individual parties of a few million here and there (pocket change to them, as Rob points out), but Rob won’t let up, despite the toll it takes on his firm and family. The film is eye-opening. I remember the whole teflon news when it came out but honestly didn’t pay much attention at the time, but I for one will be going out and buying new pots and pans soon (those made after 2013 no longer have PFOA, as a result of this case, and I’m pretty sure my old ass ones are from before then). As a picture, it is just ok, despite the lead being another one of my favorites, the highly underrated Mark Ruffalo. The dialogue is often atrociously bad, even though delivered by some good actors like Tim Robbins and Anne Hathaway. So bad that it made me chuckle and roll my eyes more than a couple times. Chalk that up to poor writing I guess, and it’s a shame, because this story had potential. Due yourself a favor, and read about PFOA and its lasting effects on health. ★★