Quick takes on Passages and other films

Silent Night is the latest from director John Woo, a director who hasn’t seen a hit here in the USA in quite some time. The wait will have to continue, as this film is more gimmick than substance. In a town in Texas dominated by gang violence, Brian’s young son is killed in a drive by, and when Brian chases down the shooters, one shoots him in the throat, destroying his voice. He rehabs, and vows revenge, spending the better part of a year working out, getting proficient in guns and handling a car at extreme speeds. Then it is time to carry out his vengeance. Brian sets out on a night to take down the head of one particular gang, and there will be blood (plenty of it). Unfortunately it’s one of those action films where you never really feel any of the tension they are trying to create. There’s nothing new in the car chases, nor the gun or knife fights. And Brian seemingly isn’t the only one who lost his voice. No one talks in this movie! Even the bad guys only communicate with body language or text messages. As I recall, the only voices I heard were from the radios here or there. Strange gimmick to run with, and it doesn’t work. Just makes the whole thing feel silly. ★

God’s Creatures put me back on track with great performance from Emily Watson. She plays Aileen, a woman at a small fishing village in Ireland. She and most of the women work at a seafood processing plant, while the men are out fishing every day. Aileen’s son Mark returns to the area after years away living in Australia, and she welcomes him back. Aileen is willing to do anything to help her son settle back home, including stealing oysters from her work so that he can use them to seed his oyster farming traps. A young worker at the plant, Sarah, sees Aileen doing it, but says nothing. Shortly afterwards, at a bar, Mark starts hitting on Sarah, since they once dated before he left and her marriage is currently on the rocks. The two of them stay at the bar while Aileen returns home, but in the next couple days, the police visit saying that Sarah is claiming a man attacked her that night. Aileen states that Mark came home with her, and of course the only people that know different are Aileen, Mark, and Sarah. Sarah doesn’t come to work for a few days and eventually loses her job, and when the town turns on her for “falsely” claiming Mark attacked her, Aileen is wracked with guilt. How far will she let her lie go, while it destroys Sarah’s life? The ending is glimpsed a mile away, but it is a worthy journey with some great acting and a gritty feel. Strong film about what a mother’s breaking point, when faced with the fact that her son is a monster. ★★★½

I recently loved a film (Amanda) so much that I immediately hunted down another from the filmmaker. Carolina Cavalli didn’t direct Fremont, but she did write it, and while the director (Babak Jalali) has his mark on it, it still shows a lot of Cavalli’s quirky humor. The film follows a woman named Donya, an Afghani immigrant who came to America on a special visa for helping the military during the war over there, as a translator. She is ostracized by fellow Afghanis in the area for being a “traitor,” and fears for her family left back home, who may face retaliation. Donya works at a Chinese fortune cookie manufacturer, first on the production line and, later, writing the fortunes that go in the cookies. She has a couple friends, more acquaintances than anything, but is extremely lonely. In a moment of poor judgement, she even puts a cry for help, with her phone number, in a fortune cookie. That message ends up at the owner’s party, but thankfully Donya doesn’t lose her job over it, when her boss goes to bat for her. Will she ever find something meaningful here in America? The film does a great job of getting you to hope so, and really root for her. Poignant, but also a funny film, with some quietly ridiculous moments, such as Donna’s therapist, who has a penchant for relating life to the novel White Fang. ★★★½

Passages is a great low-key international film with some recognizable faces, if you watch a lot of indie and foreign films. It revolves around a narcissist, a German man named Tomas. A young film director of some renown in the art scene, he controls his relationships like he controls his film sets. His husband is Englishman Martin, and they’ve been married for awhile and living in Paris for 6 years. However, their marriage seems to be on life support. Out celebrating the completion of Tomas’s latest film, they get in a fight and Martin leaves early. Tomas drifts towards a young woman on the dance floor, a Frenchwoman named Agathe. The two sleep together that night, and the next day, Tomas returns home extolling to Martin how he felt a connection with Agathe that he never felt with a woman before. The two men separate while Tomas pursues a relationship with Agathe, but it isn’t long before Tomas comes knocking on Martin’s door again. Tomas is extremely manipulating and worms his way back into Martin’s life, while keeping Agathe on the hook too. His balancing act can’t last forever, but hopefully Martin and Agathe wise up in time before Tomas can destroy their lives. Franz Rogowski and Ben Whishaw are terrific as the two male leads. Blue Is the Warmest Color notwithstanding, I’ve usually thought of Adèle Exarchopoulos as not much more than a pretty face, but she’s great too as Agathe. Very nuanced picture. ★★★½

I gotta admit, I ignored the reviews and watched The Royal Hotel because I liked the cast (always a fault of mine). Starring Julia Garner (Ozark), Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist and Game of Thrones), and Hugo Weaving (Elrond and Agent Smith himself), the film follows two American college girls partying up in Australia. When they run out of money, they apply for work permits, but not being citizens and it being late in season, job openings are limited. They end up taking a job at a remote outback town bar called The Royal Hotel, where the only customers are the miners (all men) who work nearby. It’s a rough and tumble locale, where the young women will face predatory men as well as a drunken boss seemingly intent on running the business into the ground. Strong acting from all, as you’d expect, but the film never really pans out. The tension isn’t as heavy as they want it to be, and it has an uneven feeling that never finds solid ground. Could have been something special, but instead is more of a B movie with better actors. ★★

• Book currently reading: The Butlerian Jihad by Herbert & Anderson