Quick takes on 5 films

Like most, I’m very aware of the scandal with American Catholic priests, but unfortunately, I did not follow the path it took around the world. By the Grace of God is a French film, based on the true story of a group of men who, molested as children by the same priest, band together to make sure the world becomes aware of what he did, and what the church did to allow it to keep happening. Alexandre comes forward first, and for awhile, he fights the fight alone. Bernard Preynat led the local boy scouts when Alexandre was a kid, and molested him several times. Now 40 years old, the statute of limitations has expired for Alexandre, but he is driven to find fellow victims, and especially, ones who may have been molested more recently, so as to go after Preynat legally. Alexandre also wants to hit the higher-up priests who protected Preynat all those years ago, and who continue to do so to this day. Over the course of the film, Alexandre’s work does reach others, notably François and Emmanuel, who join the movement for justice. It’s an all right movie, emotional without being heavy handed, but has a little too much of the paint-by-numbers feel for my tastes. So much of the picture is just a stream of dialogue, letters spoken to the viewer, etc., and since it is French movie, as an English speaker, I felt like I was reading a book more than watching a movie. But that’s my problem and not the fault of the filmmakers. ★★★

What We Do in the Shadows isn’t a recent film (comes from 2014), but it was recommended to me (shout out to The Conductor) and it looked very interesting. Directed by Taika Waititi (and later made into a series on FX, which I definitely now have to check out too!), it is a fake documentary film following a quartet of vampires sharing a flat in New Zealand. A film crew is doing a doc on them (protected by crucifixes and guaranteed safety by their subjects) as the big, annual Unholy Masquerade is approaching. That event does happen towards the end, but the film is more about the daily, modern lives of our undead antiheroes. And it is fantastically funny. Starring a few unknowns (to me) as well as Waititi himself and Jemaine Clement (a few films, but most recently as Oliver in FX’s Legion – seriously go watch it if you haven’t), our vampires are lovable despite going out and killing people every night. Viago, Vlad, and the others detail the problems with “living” as a modern vampire, such as finding the right outfit when you can’t check yourself out in the mirror, being outcasts because they keep a human friend, and not being able to go in a nightclub because they haven’t been invited in. It’s a great comedy with high re-watch merit. ★★★★

Clemency is a powerful film, about the people surrounding a man on death row and nearing the end of his life. Tony Woods has been on death row for 15 years after being convicted of killing a man. Tony admits he was there that fateful night but has always denied he pulled the trigger, and there is proof that he may be telling the truth, in that forensics say the shooter was left handed and Tony is not. Despite that, Tony is just about at the end of his rope. The film’s main character isn’t Tony though, it is the warden of the prison, Bernadine (played by Alfre Woodard). Bernadine has just overseen her 11th execution, one that went bad when the drugs didn’t work as intended and the subject was in obvious pain for several long seconds before his life ended. Bernadine is wracked with guilt and depression over his death, as well as the others that came before, and is slowly creeping with dread toward’s Tony’s day, despite outwardly trying to appear calm and collected for the safety of her staff and inmates. The film does a fantastic job dealing with a touchy subject in a matter-of-fact way which shows the sides of all involved, from Tony to Bernadine, the prison’s chaplain to Tony’s long-suffering lawyer, who is set to retire after this last case, tired and worn down from a lifetime of fighting against the system to save people from execution. Tony is a man who has power over nothing, who has lived 15 years with little hope, and the movie does a tremendous job of letting us glimpse how that can feel to a person. The only subplot I didn’t dig was the strained relationship of Bernadine and her husband. It was introduced to show the pressure she’s under, but Woodard’s acting did a good enough job of that without those added and oftentimes unnecessary scenes. That’s a minor quibble though; the film is fantastic. ★★★★

Bombshell is based on the downfall of Fox News exec Roger Ailes, centering on allegations against him of sexual misconduct brought by women at the channel, specifically from Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly. Carlson has refused his advances for years and has found herself demoted within the organization and on her way to being fired. Kelly also has denied Ailes for years, but her popularity with the public has kept her safe, until now, when she’s been butting heads with Donald Trump on his campaign trail for president. Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron are solid as the two leading ladies (though I was distracted by Theron forcing her voice lower to impersonate Kelly’s deeper tone; I don’t think it was necessary for the role). The third of the trio of women front and center is a “Kayla” (Margot Robbie, who’s been on a roll here lately), a character who is an amalgamation of young women at the station who find themselves having to decide between sex with Ailes or looking for a new job. I enjoyed the movie overall, though I suspect it is one of those that is good when you watch it the first time, but doesn’t have much replay value. The movie is just a bit too sensational for me as well, I feel it could have dug deeper into the support system women need to feel safe at work. ★★★½

Films like The Vast of Night are reasons why I love watching movies. Obviously done on a miniscule budget, with believable performances by actors you’ve never heard of, yet it is gripping, tense, and utterly enjoyable. It is a creepy-esque sci-fi film that takes place in a tiny town in New Mexico in the 1950’s. With nothing to do in the town, high school sports reign supreme, so on the night of a basketball game, everyone in town is at the school, except for our focal characters. High schooler Fay has a single mom who struggles to pay the bills in 1950s America, so Fay is working the switchboard for the tiny town when she hears a strange noise coming first from the radio, and then over the phone lines. She tries to call the few people she knows aren’t at the game, but the line is cut off inexplicably. So she calls slightly older (and object of desire of all the girls in school) Everett, who hosts a nighttime radio program and also, thus, is not at the game. The two spend the rest of the evening trying to sourse this noise, and its origins. As listerners call in to the show talking about strange happenings outside of town, the mystery slowly starts to unfold. To say more than that would ruin it for you. Go watch it, it’s free on Amazon Prime, and well worth your 90 minutes. ★★★★½