King Richard is a biographical film about the father of a couple of the most famous women on the planet, Venus and Serena Williams. Their father, Richard (Will Smith), had a plan for them to be tennis masters from the time they were born, and he makes sure everyone knows it. The film follows a four year window or so, mostly focusing on Richard and Venus, as the oldest of the duo. Richard has coached her as far as he can take her, but knows that she needs further instruction to prepare her for championship level tennis, and more importantly, the opportunities that a well-known and well-respected coach can bring her and the family. Being a poor man with a large family from Compton, he is rejected left and right, until he finally barges in on the right person at the right time, who gives the girls a tryout. The coach is blown away by their poise and skill, and agrees to start coaching Venus. The first step on what will be a marvelous career. A lot of the movie deals with Richard’s insistence that the girls take the path that he has laid out for them, making sure that they have their heads on straight so they don’t burn out too quickly, and can handle the pressures he knows they’ll face later in life. I expected Will Smith to be good, and he is, but it is the girls, and particularly Saniyya Sidney as Venus, who really steal the film. Thankfully it doesn’t stick too close to the paint-by-numbers approach that biopics can often suffer, and there’s story to go with the facts (and I have a feeling they play a bit loose with those). ★★★★
Some films want you to think, some films just want to entertain, and some have a message. The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain falls into this last group. Based on the true story of the killing of a 70-year-old man in his apartment in White Plains, NY, in 2011, it stars Frankie Faison as the senior Kenneth. He’s asleep one night when he accidentally triggers his Life Alert pendant, and sleeps through the company’s attempts to contact him. Per company policy, they alert police for a wellness check, and 3 officers show up at Kenneth’s door a little after 5am to see if he is OK. With a history of mental illness and a deep-seated racial distrust of police, the black Kenneth refuses to open the door. He tries to assure them that the call was in error, that he is fine, but their policy is to see him in person to verify he’s alright. A nearly real-time hour goes by as the cops continue to bang on the door, and Kenneth and they yell back and forth. Eventually, the fateful decision is made to bang down the door and invade the apartment, despite Kenneth screaming that their search is unlawful, that they do not have a warrant or probable cause, and that he does not need their services. Outside of Faison, no great acting here, and the story is obviously thin. All of the film takes place in that apartment and just outside it. Even so, I was most definitely moved, to the point of tears when the cops forced their way in and took Kenneth’s life. If a film is made to elicit an emotional response, this one succeeds. ★★★½
Who You Think I Am is a French film starring Juliette Binoche, but despite her considerable acting chops, she can’t save this dud, in a very familiar story that has been told before, and done better. Claire is a middle-aged woman with a young boyfriend, Ludo. She wants more from their relationship than he does; he just wants easy weekend hookups. When she gets clingy, he stops returning her calls. To try to stay close to him, Claire sets up a fake Facebook page under than name Clara, and sends out a multitude of friend requests, including Ludo’s friend Alex. Online, “Clara” and Alex strike up a conversation, which leads to a serious online relationship. Using pictures stolen from the web, Claire deceives Alex into thinking she’s a 20-something, and even when their relationship progresses to phone calls, he doesn’t suspect anything. That is, until he becomes insistent that they meet. Told in flashbacks as Claire relates her story to a therapist, we learn how deep she was willing to take her deception. Very average movie, and some weird twists in the end just seemed too “gotcha” for me. ★★½
Hope is a lovely Norwegian film about a woman and her family without any. Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) has been suffering from headaches, nausea, and vision problems for a little while and new eyeglasses didn’t help. She is told to get an MRI to rule out problems in her head, and this leads to the devastating news that she does have a brain tumor. It being a few days before Christmas, there’s very little immediate help, other than to take some meds to reduce fluid buildup, and try to get to January when they can do surgery. Initial news is not good though: her form of cancer appears to be incurable, and is most likely a metastatic tumor from lung cancer she had just beat a year ago. One doctor tells her that a handful of patients have recovered (so there is always some hope), one tells her to get the surgery and pray for the best, and a third tells her that she’s going to die anyway, so go on a vacation and enjoy what time she has left. Meanwhile, her older life partner Tomas (the always-recognizable Stellan Skarsgård) has to be a better partner than he has been in years. Always absent (they almost split before her cancer diagnosis a year ago), he needs to be the strong one for a change, even as they struggle to tell their large family about the news, and prepare their kids for what is coming. The film flirts with over-sentimentality, but stays grounded and real-feeling. Unfortunately sometimes it takes the worst moments in life for a family to come together, but they do come together. A very tender, and surprisingly funny at times, film. ★★★½
Jungle Cruise is the latest Disney adventure romp, starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson in the leads, opposed by Jesse Plemons as the bad guy. In typical Disney tradition, the beginning of the film gives us the setup: in the 16th century, conquistadors exploring the Amazon jungle are looking for a special tree which is said to cure any illness. One man goes so far as to destroy an entire village when they refuse to disclose the tree’s location. With his dying breath, the tribal chief curses the conquistador, forever keeping him close the Amazon River, with the jungle coming alive to prevent him from escaping. Fast forward to 1916 in London, and Lily (Blunt) wants to find that tree, in hopes that its petals can be used in the war effort against Germany. Unfortunately for her, Germany has its eyes on the legend as well, and Prince Joachim (Plemons) is also after it. Lily and her brother head to the Amazon, where they book passage on a beat up old ship captained by Frank (Johnson). Frank is rough around the edges but he claims to know the river better than anyone, and for the right price, he’ll take them to where their goal is supposed to be. Along the way, they have to fight the undying cursed conquistador and his men, the German Joachim, and Frank’s bad dad jokes (which I have to admit, I laughed very hard at. Guess I’m getting old). This film got average reviews, but I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Vibrantly colorful and bright, lots of laughs and harrowing adventure too? Count me in! It’s really good all-family fun. ★★★★
- TV series currently watching: Foundation (season 1)
- Book currently reading: Hades by Mark Danielewski
Jons Movie Takes 