Jays Weekly Roundup #1 - A Strong Start

Lars & The Real Girl. Dir. Craig Gillespie

Lars & The Real Girl follows Lars, a socially awkward and reclusive man who develops a serious romantic relationship with a doll he ordered online. While this movie on the surface looks like a shallow one-joke comedy film, it’s actually a rather heart-warming tale of community and loss.

I was expecting this film to have a funny premise that got old pretty quickly, but I was wrong. While the movie did have a few funny moments, and the general premise is pretty humorous, it’s clear from the minute Lars gets the doll that he’s not some creepy freak but a sad and unwell man trying to cope with the struggles of his life. The movie was a wholesome story not just about overcoming loneliness but also of community, in the film the entire small town Lars is from bands together to pretend as though his doll girlfriend is real and supporting him, though he receives some mockery and doubt ( mostly from his own brother) most people support Lars, and this support is what enables him to get over his issues.

If you’re looking for a light-hearted and wholesome film about a lonely reclusive man with a kind heart and the community that comes together to help him, give this movie a try.

The Usual Suspects. Dir .Bryan Singer

The Usual Suspects is a film about 5 ex-criminals whose story together is told from the perspective of the placid Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) and how their time together led to a ship explosion and a massacre at the docks, the film is told mostly in flashbacks, as Kint dictates the events that led to the ship.

I don’t need to tell you The Usual Suspects is a good film, I’m just ashamed it took me this long to watch it, the film is known for its famous twist ( which I won’t spoil) I had thought I knew this twist going into the film but I didn’t so it got me just as good as first time viewers.

The highlight of the film for me was the snappy dialogue & performances from our 5 lead characters. They all felt like authentic petty 80’s criminals that were thrown together, and their chemistry from the first famous line-up scene was electric. This might be because Director Bryan Singer and lead actor Kevin Spacey, are actual criminals. Jokes aside the dynamic between the main cast was what completely sold the film for me, the flashbacks could lose me a little bit and at times it was slightly hard to follow, but the story as a whole and the performances earn this movie its right as a classic.

Juror #2. Dir. Clint Eastwood

Juror #2 follows average family man Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult), who is called to serve on a jury for a domestic abuse/murder case. As the trial begins Kemp realizes he may have been responsible for the crime, unsure whether he is guilty he grapples with feelings of guilt and responsibility, struggling to decide if he should come forward with his potential guilt.

I liked Juror #2 a lot, which seems to be a controversial opinion if internet discourse is to be believed (it never is) I understand it is a slightly watered-down 12 Angry Men but I think director Clint Eastwood does something new, and interesting with that existing idea. Hoult turns in a great performance as the nervous but honorable family man and Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette) the no-nonsense prosecutor also turns in a layered and interesting performance. In his limited screentime retired police officer Harold Chicowski (J.K Simmons) gives a very simple but effective performance as a cop with a code of honor.

The movie’s ambiguous ending as well as its lack of a twist seems to be the most common complaint of the film, I actually enjoyed that the movie was ambiguous and we the audience never truly know the truth of what happened, as for the lack of twist I feel the same way, we have the same information the characters do and we’re left to make our own decisions on how we feel about the events of the film.

Wolfs. Dir. Jon Watts

Wolfs follows two unnamed fixers (Clooney & Pitt) who are both tasked to dispose of the body of a boy who died while having relations with an influential politician, both of them object to working together, calling themselves ‘Lone Wolves’ but when the boy turns out to be alive, and involved in some sort of drug operation, the two wolves must work together, despite their issues with one another.

I didn’t expect too much from Wolfs, when I first saw the trailer I thought it looked like a fun buddy-cop-style film with Clooney & Pitt. I found the film a letdown overall, from the rather uninteresting premise to the formulaic storytelling, nothing in Wolfs felt new, exciting, or particularly even well thought out. At times it felt like a comedy with few jokes, at others, it was a drama with awkward comedy, I don’t think this movie ever realized what it was trying to achieve.

The saving grace of the film ( if it has one ) as you might expect is the two leads. Clooney & Pitt are two seasoned actors, and their chemistry and presence on screen is the only thing keeping this film above water for me. Not all of their dialogue was masterfully written, but if you put two titans of cinema in a film together with a lot of floorspace, you can’t really go wrong. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this one but if you need something to occupy 1h45 and you’re a big fan of the two leads, you’ll get some entertainment out of it.

Nosferatu. Dir. Robert Eggers

Nosferatu is my movie of the week! Check out the full review over at: https://www.jayreviewsie.com/movie-reviews/nosferatu-a-dark-and-twisted-tale