Quick takes on 5 films

Misbehaviour is about the protests surrounding the Miss World competition in London in 1970. It features an ensemble cast telling the stories of various women involved both participating in, and protesting at, the pageant. Keira Knightley plays Sally, a history student fighting for admittance into a school where she can further her degree, who later falls in with Jo (Jessie Buckley), a strong feminist and quasi-anarchist. Inside the preparations for the show, the ladies from around the world are arriving in London, each with their own stories, such as Ms Sweden (Clara Rosager), who is the favorite to win, but also has disdain for the beauty process, and Ms Grenada, Jennifer Hosten (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who wants to win for the prize money to further her own education. Also going on in 1970 were the rumblings of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, so in an attempt to side step controversy, the pageant invites two women from that country, one white and one black. Other actors included are Rhys Ifans as the pageant founder Eric Morley, who can’t help but point out the measurements of all the girls, and Greg Kinnear as the legendary Bob Hope, there to host. The film does a fantastic job of providing differing points of view for all involved. It would be easy to just call it a women’s rights film, but there’s multiple angles going on. Sally and Jo want to take down the system, calling it no better than a cattle market, but some of the women genuinely like participating. Jennifer wants to win to show that a black woman can be just as pretty as a white (no woman of color had ever won previously). There are calls to make a stand against apartheid. I thought it was a fantastic film, and a great showing of a huge leaping off moment in the history of the women’s liberation movement. ★★★★

The Devil All the Time follows two generations in and around a couple tiny towns in Ohio and West Virginia, starting after World War II. It follows a half dozen or more characters whose lives intertwine in a myriad of ways; the narrator in fact hints at the connections in the opening minutes when he tells us that in one tiny town, just about everyone is related in one way or another. At first, our story focuses on Willard Russell, returning home from the war, who falls in love-at-first-sight with a waitress at a diner off the road. He marries her and buys a house. Willard is a soft spoken man but he protects his own; when some men made rude remarks about his wife, he beats them up badly, and tells his son Arvin to always do the same. Willard’s original girl before his marriage goes on to marry the new, young minister, but he’s not all straight in the head. That’s the setup for the film in the first 20-30 minutes, and it’s about all I can say without giving away some of the surprises. The film goes on to focus on the girl and minister’s daughter, and her future relationship with Arvin when he grows up, as well as others in and around their circle. There’s a whole lot going on, but it does all flow and was easy to follow, and it comes together in a neat bow in the end, maybe a little too neat. There’s some great, tense moments, but the movie is a little too clean, for what is throughout a very gritty picture. There’s great acting from heavy hitters like Bill Skarsgârd, Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan, and Tom Holland, but it’s one of those movies that just tries to do too much. Entertaining, but not all that memorable. ★★★

#Alive should instead be #OnLifeSupport. It’s about as formulaic and dull as a zombie apocalypse film can be. A Korean picture, it follows a teenage boy left alone in his apartment when the zombie infection hits, hard and fast. He doesn’t get good cell coverage in his apartment, and as the TV signal becomes unreliable over the first couple days, he’s left on his own with no news of what’s going on in the outside world. His only hope is a final text from his mom saying she’s safe, and to stay inside and wait for help. To make matters worse, he had put off grocery shopping, so there’s very little food as it is. As the days and weeks go by, our hero runs out of food, and just as he begins to contemplate suicide, he sees another survivor in an apartment across the courtyard from his apartment. Our guy and his new girlfriend are able to eke out a few more weeks until they make a last, desperate run for safety. There’s a few nice zombie killing sprees, but the film is overall absolutely ridiculous (even for a zombie flick), with some of the smartest zombies ever put on screen, and the acting is beyond atrocious. ★

Enola Holmes is a delightful film for all ages, starring Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown in the title role. I have to admit, I am not a Stranger Things fan; I watched season one, didn’t really get into it, and never followed up on the later seasons. Having said that, I know Brown has received acclaim for her performance on that show, and she is wonderful in this movie. Enola is the little sister to the famed Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill) and another, older, brother, Mycroft (Sam Claflin). The brothers being so much older than Enola, they’ve been away from the home for a decade, leaving Enola to be raised by their widowed mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter). Instead of being raised to be a lady, Eudoria raised her to be a free thinking self sufficient young woman, and at 16 now, she’s not what society expects of her. The setup for the film is that Eudoria has suddenly gone missing, and Enola’s older brothers come home to see what is amiss. As the oldest, Mycroft takes over guardianship of Enola, and wants to send her to boarding school. Sherlock likes her spunk and adventurous personality, but acquiesces to Mycroft’s wishes. Enola has no intention of going quietly. She finds clues to her mother’s whereabouts in London, and dresses as a boy to set off to find her. Her quest is sidetracked when she becomes embroiled in a murder attempt on the young Lord Tewkesbury’s life, so Enola now has two mysteries to solve. The film is based on a series of young adult novels, and done very well, with detailed period costumes and sets, and engaging writing and dialogue. The camera loves Millie, with her bubbly personality, and she shines throughout the picture. It’s a fun for kids through adults. ★★★★

I loved this movie. Deerskin stars Jean Dujardin as Georges, a middle aged man who, at first, seems just a bit quirky, but before too long, we see he’s bat shit crazy. The film begins with Georges riding out to the middle of nowhere to purchase a 100% deerskin jacket from an old codger. He pays an exorbitant price for it, for which the seller also gifts him a digital video recorder, and then drives to a secluded hotel in a little town to stay the night. He makes one phone call to his estranged wife, and we learn that they have recently split. Georges is obsessed with his new coat, constantly starring at himself in the mirror and wearing it to bed. He goes to a bar, where he thinks the bartender, Denise (Adèle Haenel, long lauded in France but who recently received international acclaim in Portrait of a Lady on Fire), and another women are talking about him and his coat, but of course they are not. With his newfound camera, he pretends to be a filmmaker, which grabs the attention of Denise, as her dream is to be a film editor. Since Georges’ wife has just closed their joint account, he is broke, but Denise agrees to finance his film so she can edit. By this point, Georges’ wonderful coat has begun “talking” to him, and he realizes they share a dream of he having the only jacket in the world. At first, Georges goes around paying people to put their jackets in the trunk of his car, before he drives away, but his actions become more sinister by the end. Denise loves it all, thinking it is a metaphor for how we cover ourselves in a protective outer layer. It is absurdist comedy and horror to perfection. Dujardin’s deadpan comedic style is ideal for this role, and when he goes out to become the only jacket-wearing person in town, the result is fantastic filmmaking. ★★★★★