How I Met Your Father: Review of Julieta

Julieta

Director: Pedro Almodovar

By Alex Watson

While Julieta might not be Pedro Almodovar's strongest piece, it is still nonetheless absorbing. His tale of love and loss takes us to the very heart of a mother/daughter relationship. A pair of fine performances from Adriana Ugarte and Emma Suarez as the older and younger version of Julieta are what gives this picture the fire in its belly. Almodovar injects a heavy sense of longing and regrets as someone revisits what turns them upside down.

Planning to leave her Madrid home, Julieta (Emma Suarez) is about to leave for Portugal with her boyfriend Lorenzo (Daniel Grandinetti). However, after a chance encounter with an old acquaintance, she learns news of her daughter estranged Antia. Hoping for a reunion, Julieta abandons her travel plans and stays. During this period, she revisits how her youthful self (Adriana Ugarte) met her daughter's father Xoan (Daniel Grao).

The early part of Almodovar's film is where the interest really sparks. We met Julieta as a young, bleach blonde teacher making her way by train. Lost for someone to talk to, she is initially perturbed by a nervous older gentleman attempting to spark conversation. Fleeing to the dining cart, she meets fisherman Xoan and immediately is swept off her feet. Her choice of partner will soon set off a number of events that define the course of her life. Immediately deciding to pursue him, she is met with a coolness by his housekeeper Marian (Rossy De Palma). In no uncertain terms, Marian tries to persuade her to ignore her heart and leave this one be. The true meaning of her words will only take effect midway through.

Red is a recurring colour through Julieta as it appears to symbolise loss but could also represent Julieta's desire for love. One of the principle errors is that when the inciting incident hits, the audience doesn't feel floored because we partly expect it. What comes afterwards is a heartbreakingly true representation of grief. Lost in a daze, Julieta's relationship with daughter Antia (Priscilla Delgado/Blanca Pares) goes into turmoil. When her daughter escapes before Julieta can pick her up from camp she drives a red car. When her daughter sends an empty card on her mother's birthday, there is a red berry cake on the table. Almodovar's hints towards this are clever at first but soon become too painstakingly obvious. This estrangement is what really sucker punches the audience and the motherly love aspect runs along identical lines to Almodovar classic 'All About My Mother'.

Despite having a continually downtrodden feel, the faint light of hope is never extinguished. The older Julieta is a filled with remorse over her prior actions. She sees her daughter's estrangement as her own doing and revisiting her younger self is like trying to uncover a mystery. Lorenzo provides her with a tower of strength during the final due to his patience and kindness which gives her what she needs to move forward. Almodovar however, does perhaps include more side stories than necessary that keep the movie diverting from the path. The throwaway story of her father's perhaps romantic relationship with her mother's carer is barely developed. A big question we find ourselves asking is whether Julieta deserves to reunited with her daughter? The acts she commits are not ill-intentioned but they do often spur the worst to happen. The morality of this decision is one that wrestles us throughout because like most people we hate hurting those we love.

Adriana Ugarte emerges as a new and very beautiful talent in this picture. Breathing a life into the early scenes as she breezes on screen, Ugarte is simply mesmerising. Her playful side slowly turns into a deep depression as Ugarte skillfully brings about her characters big change. Giving a turn that is forever maturing, this is one actress worth keeping an eye on Spanish cinema. Emma Suarez is likewise excellently as the older and more remorseful Julieta. Suarez's continually downbeat face tells the whole story of her life regrets. However, she also invests a spirit in this character that keeps her moving rather than giving in.

Julieta is not the best Pedro Almodovar film you will see but even his lesser films are engaging. His observations of love and what motherhood really means are still thought provoking and memorable.

The Golden Arches: Review of The Founder

The Founder

Director: John Lee Hancock

By Alex Watson

Ray Kroc's ascent to the top of the fast food world with McDonald's is given a surprisingly gentle touch by John Lee Hancock. Making the most of Michael Keaton's great performance, The Founder is a tale of a man wanting to win at all costs. Kroc might not be this year's most sympathetic character, but the brains and sheer balls he demonstrates make us admire him. This tale of rags to riches isn't a completely happy one and his usurping of its originators will be tough to swallow.

In 1954, Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) is a struggling milkshake machine salesman who is having trouble making money. One day when following up on a large order, he travels to San Bernardino, California where he meets restaurant owners Dick and Mac McDonald (Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch). Entranced by their 'speedy system' of delivering orders in 30 seconds and their quality standards, Kroc immediately wants in. Over the years Ray begins to make McDonald's into a household name, all the while alienating the brother's efforts.

The first act of The Founder sets up Kroc's persona nicely as he lives his life on the road. Giving his same cliched 'Chicken and the Egg' speech to a number of uninterested diner owners, he finds himself being continually shown the door. Along the way, he finds himself routinely frustrated by slow service and wrong food being given at a number of drive-in diners. Coming across McDonald's for the first time is like gazing upon an exciting new world. His genuine confusion and amazement as his burger is presented to him within moments will crack a smile, "where do I eat it?" he asks. The brothers are a pair who run their joint like a military operation and are dedicated to quality. Although Ray urges them to franchise, their resistance to change is what sets the rot in this relationship. Ray is a man who is never content with just having enough and his desire to better is what makes us love and hate him in equal measure.

His frustration is what sets about him building an empire. His contract has a slow approval process for anything he suggests and both Dick and Mac's refuse to betray the principles of their beloved restaurant. In the movie's second half he emerges as a ruthless businessman. Realising he will never make the bucks he desires from the brothers, Ray turns to buying land for franchises right under their noses. More than that, he founds another company based on the very company name for whom he has been generating business. Ray looks at himself as the underdog going up against the heavyweights, sad truth is that he fights way dirtier than necessary. Soon he starts enacting his own changes while similar copying the same service standards of the brothers. Dick fumes when he nationally issues powdered milkshakes to all restaurants instead of using ice cream. Ray's ideas are innovative and his success begins to make him believe he is untouchable.

John Lee Hancock treads a fine line with his portrayal of Hancock, presented as a lovable loser in the beginning soon his charm begins to blur the lines. By the movie's climax, we see a cunning and almost psychotic money maker. His dedication comes at the cost his marriage to wife Ethel (a barely used Laura Dern) and he soon catches the eye of singer Joan Smith (Linda Cardellini). In capitalist America, this tale of gaining market ground and branding will ring painfully true. Treating McDonald's like his own personal baby, Ray indeed builds this company from the ground up but only by breaking what he swore to uphold. Dick and Mac's short-sighted approach doesn't make them come off as complete victims. Stubborn to the point of being unreasonable and refusing nationwide exposure to due fear of not controlling their products, it is little wonder Ray goes against them.

Michael Keaton's fine form continues with a bold performance as Ray Kroc. Channelling his own will to dominate along with his everyman charm, this is a winning turn. Since Birdman, Keaton is the process of a big revival and Hancock's movie just proves further how is able to anchor a big movie. Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch also make fine supporting fodder to Keaton. Offerman's almost anal retentive presentation of Dick McDonald makes for perfect resistance to change. Carroll Lynch's turn is perhaps the more devastating as the gentler of the two brothers as the stress mounts from Kroc's offensive campaign. Laura Dern sadly is stranded in a nothing role which gives her nothing to work with. One of the most underrated actresses around, she really deserved a better part.

The Founder is a movie that reminds us that the cost of doing business sometimes involves being underhanded to get ahead.

Boston Strong: Review of Patriots Day

Patriots Day

Director: Peter Berg

by Alex Watson

The devastation caused by the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing is brought painstakingly to life by Peter Berg. Patriots Day is a movie bolstered by an excellent cast who reflect the horrors witnessed and how a city attempts to rise again. Tobias Schliessler's jittery photography makes our nerves twitch even before the explosion hits. Director Peter Berg's pacing of the story and research of the 4-day manhunt that ensued is excellent. Boston Strong rings true in this picture and the courage displayed is a fitting tribute.

Sgt. Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) is positioned at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon. When a series of explosions happen, he and the Boston Police are faced with a frightening scenario. Forced to surrender control to FBI agent Richard Deslauriers, Saunders along with Police Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman) search high and low for the culprit. Meanwhile, a series of unrelated characters such as Watertown Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese (J.K Simmons), Chinese entrepreneur Dun Meng (Jimmy Yang) and MIT Security guard Sean Collier (Jake Picking) will find themselves facing life changing moments.

 From the first frame of Patriots Day, there is an eerie sense of dread lurking. Watching characters waking up bright and happy and going about their daily routines only intensifies the devastation. Tommy Saunders is a man who is working his way back into the good books of the Police, but agreeing to wear the 'clown vest' at the marathon. Situated mere yards away, Berg makes feel the full effect when the two pressure cooker bombs detonate. Saunders despite his leg injury has to act fast and he sees first hand how a peaceful day has turned into hell on earth. The bombs were placed at ground level, so many people have had their limbs blown clean off. Saunders and co are forced to take control quickly and it is in the moment we feel a strength setting in. We all know this moment is coming- the fact we sit powerless to prevent is what really shakes us. Seeing happy couples like Jessica Kensky (Rachel Brosnahan) and Patrick Downes (Christopher O'Shea) clinging to their lives is bound to hit the spot.

The aftermath is like a whirlwind and Berg rarely pauses for breath as the manhunt goes forward. Both Davis and Deslauriers bicker about whether or not to release pictures of their suspected subjects? One area where the movie both rises and falls in the depiction of bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev (Themo Melikidze and Alex Wolff). Presented as your ordinary pair of quarrelling brothers, Berg is careful not trespass into overblown and cliche territory. One of the harder aspects of this picture, it deserves credit for being so underplayed and the believability of the performances. The brothers are responsible for arguably the pictures most tense sequence when Dun Meng finds himself carjacked. This one act alone brings us further into their subconscious and their casual approach to more possible mayhem is utterly chilling. The women in this picture aren't given quite the same fair shake, Carol Saunders (Michelle Monaghan) is given little to work with other than look supportive. However, Melissa Benoist gets a powerful scene as Tamerlan's committed wife Katherine Russell.

We can feel their desperation setting in as the police cling to all possible clues. Pugliese emerges as pictures real hero as he heroically stands up to pipe bombs during an explosion filled final act. The ordinary officer pushed into the line of duty, not once does he flinch. Saunders is a character who is made out to be the main man of the piece when in reality he is devoted side character. Berg's praise and commitment in showing the courage and sacrifice of all Boston citizens make each character heroic. Security Guard Collier was murdered in his car for refusing to surrender his gun to the bombers. From the governor declaring marshal law to Dun Meng's display of impulsive bravery, every person is doing their bit.  Patriots Day is not just about a city recovering, it is a film about people standing up and being counted. David Gordon Green's companion piece 'Stronger' also debuts in 2017, it will be tough to raise Berg's efforts.

Mark Wahlberg might be first billed as Tommy Saunders but he is by no means the main star. While his impassioned performance might impress in some areas, in others he falls flat. Wahlberg is used to this type of brave role, but Tommy is not always likeable. His whining of Deslauriers taking charge makes out him out to be an insufferable brat. J.K Simmons provides excellent support as Pugliese and he ably defines his cool under pressure as he willing goes up against the brothers. Kevin Bacon and John Goodman are drastically underused as the respective head law figures. Alex Wolff and Themo Melikidze both measure their performances well as the Tsarnaev brothers. Wolff is particular is excellent as the younger more youthful obnoxious sibling.

Patriots Day is a movie that exemplifies a cities struggle but also shows the gritty determination Boston showed trying to heal. Made with a lot of affection, if more blockbusters can show this type of heart it is a very good sign indeed.

Monster Mash: Review of A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls

Director: J.A Bayona

By Alex Watson

Rare it is that a movie captures both the innocence of youth and the pain associated with losing a loved one. Spanish director J.A Bayona's A Monster Calls is a picture that guarantees no dry eyes in the house. Delving into the loneliness, anger, and bitterness that comes with loss, Bayona shows us how comfort sometimes comes from the strangest places.  Making full use of Liam Neeson's Groot like tree monster, we are taken to a place most humans are terrified to visit.

Lonely schoolboy Connor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is awoken each night at 12:07 am by a huge tree monster (Liam Neeson). The monster advises him that he will tell him three stories but after the last one, Connor must tell him his own story. Struggling to come to terms with the reality of his mother's (Felicity Jones) terminal illness, Connor feels isolated.

From the very onset of A Monster Calls, Bayona shows just how alone in this world Connor is. His mother's illness has forced him to fend for himself and the opening shows him making breakfast alone while mother coughs in the background. Things aren't helped by his strict grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) whose interfering has strained their relationship. His father (Toby Kebbell) is living his dream life away in LA and his visit only causes more friction. Bullied at school and now forced to move from his beloved home, little seems to be going right. A talented artist, Connor delves into a world of fantasy, something so familiar to many troubled teenage boys. When the monster first appears, his intentions are unclear but we sense he might be the only one who can save this kid. Whether this is a figment of Connor's imagination that is there to protect him or a creature sent from the heavens, Bayona refuses to reveal the secret.

In his breathy tones, the monsters three tales about a handsome prince, an apothecary and an invisible man each link in with Connor situation. The wonderful animated sequences inject life and colour into an otherwise bleak world. The third story is perhaps the one that will be the most celebrated, mainly because the monster's influence finally pays off. All around him, Connor is lost and his acting out threatens to tear his relationship with Grandma to shreds. As a side character, his elder is a great study on the suppression of grief. Bayona wisely doesn't make this only Connor's story because each person he is close to is affected in some way. The monster nurtures his destructive side, watching them go to town on an old house finally lets his frustration fly. Bayona keeps this adult side of the story to hushed conversations in other rooms. Shut out of his mother's illness Connor feels like he is confined to the shadows.

Perhaps the most prominent part of A Monster Calls is how deep the emotional core goes. Connor is counting on a miracle that he knows probably will not come. Only when he is forced to speak his truth does the monster's presence become obvious. It is a scene so potent and so unbearably raw that even the coldest heart will melt. This is a picture dedicated to a boys love of his mother and the fragility that comes with accepting fate.

Lewis MacDougall gives a great debut performance as Connor. Giving in the film its voice of youthful despair, MacDougall is very much a match for his more established co-stars. In limited screen time, Felicity Jones coaxes out a caring and utterly affecting turn as his mother. An emotional force throughout, she carries forward her fears of the unknown along with her regret she cannot be around. Sigourney Weaver is perhaps the ace in the deck and she captures the supporting honours. Playing a woman determined to put on a brave face, Weaver is magnificent. Barely able to contain her grief at losing her daughter, her desire to keep up appearances and be strong is what draw us to her.

A Monster Calls is unashamedly a weepie, but J.A Bayona also makes his audience think of life and death in a whole new way. After this picture prepare to bombard people you love with calls.

Poetry in Motion: Review of Neruda

Neruda

Director: Pablo Larrain

By Alex Watson

Shunning the typical biopic strategy, Pablo Larrain's picture Neruda is a fascinating look at the persecution of Pablo Neruda. Part fact, part fiction, none of this matters as the story presented is so engrossing it stands up on its own merits. Not concerned with giving a straight depiction, Larrain's movie is still a beautiful piece of work which becomes a wonderful game of hide and seek between two men both obsessed with their own glories.

Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) is a celebrated Chilean poet and Senator who recently has been denounced for accusing Chile of abandoning its communist roots. Faced with a prison sentence, Neruda is forced to go on the run. On his tail is Inspector Oscar Peluchonneau, a man deeply fascinated with his foe and determined to live up to his father's name. Time and again, the pair will avoid crossing paths but both are determined to stay ahead.

There is a degree of creative license with Neruda, Larrain explored this before his prior picture NO which was about a fiction ad man working on the Anti-Pinochet commercials. While it might not be straight up, Larrain's work is still sharp, intelligent and beautifully shot. Both men on display are both egotists in their own right, Neruda might be the people's darling but he is also portrayed as a vainglorious man enraptured with his own reputation. Married with Argentine aristocrat Delia del Carril (Mercedes Moran), Neruda is a branded a public enemy after Chilean President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla declares war on Communism. Forced into hiding, Larrain shows the real struggles that communists faced during this period. Many are forced into concentration camps, one of which is led by a 'Blue Eyed Fox' Captain Augusto Pinochet. Neruda fights for the cause but lives the rich man's life. This irony of this fact is beautiful presented.

Oscar Peluchonneau's presence is one that haunts the film throughout. At first, he appears only in a silky voiceover- but he has clocked Neruda's movements from the beginning. A great fictional creation, Peluchonneau is the conflicted son of a prostitute who is primarily concerned with living up to the name of his Police Chief father. Peluchonneau both resents and admires Neruda but is determined to see his name tarnished to preserve his own. His competence on the job might vary, at one point he seemingly seduces the man's ex-wife into denouncing him, only for it to blow up in his face. Larrain keeps his reliability as a narrator ambiguous but the chase between the two is a playful yet nerve-wracking one. A climatic chase through these Andes mountains turns this slow-burning political thriller into something else entirely.

The main problem that befouls the detective is the public adoration for their poet. Pablo Neruda is shown at being magnificent with words and a great orator. One emotional scene sees Peluchonneau questioning a transvestite who passionately describes what he means to his people. As a man, Neruda might be less of a hero and Larrain wonderfully hints at his losing touch with his ideals. His relationship with Mercedes is a devoted one but seemingly free of affection. Peluchonneau is the very nemesis that Neruda would have proudly written, which is why he able to dog him at every turn. His personal life and tastes might lose him some sympathy, but his ingenuity and smarts are what make us love Neruda as a character. When things are on the line, he finds new and clever ways to stay alive. Larrain keeps a fine line between detective film and thriller and the film feels richer for it.

Luis Gnecco is excellent as the fabled Neruda, a man who very much enjoys his notorious status. Living the life of a successful writer, people hang on his every written word. Gnecco is also solid during the film's latter half when Neruda is forced to uses his wits to avoid capture. However, this picture belongs to Gael Garcia Bernal whose smartly constructed turn shines brightly. Previously collaborating with Larrain in NO, Bernal brilliantly portrays the internal strife this fictional creation feels. A detective who also admires detective fiction, Peluchonneau is an investigator whose very existence hinges on Neruda. A charismatic yet humane performance, Bernal proves his one of the strongest performances in South American cinema.

Neruda might not adhere to the typical biopic restraints, but it is nonetheless a wonderful piece of work about a man and his words.

The Way Back: Review of Lion

Lion

Director: Garth Davis

By Alex Watson

While this might be a moving picture of rediscovery, Garth Davis' Lion is a picture that pulls at heart strings a little too deliberately. Strong turns from Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman do give this movie a great soul. Director Davis keeps the story well paced and affecting parallels the difference in Saroo Brierley's two separate upbringings. However, you can't help but feel that this is tailor made Oscar bait from the Weinsteins.

Saroo Brierley (Dev Patel/Sunny Panwar) is a boy growing up in rural India to a loving family. One while accompanying his brother, he gets separated and as a result, he is transported over 1600 miles away to Calcutta. Adopted by loving Australian parents Sue (Nicole Kidman) and John (David Wenham), Saroo grows into a mature and caring young man. Even though he has embraced his new home, he still yearns to find his old one. His obsessive search will lead him to Google Earth and maybe a shot at finding his beloved family.

The notion of true identity is the big issue on display in Lion. Early scenes see Saroo's idyllic life living in Phanawar with his mother and brother Guddu. One day while accompanying his brother for a night job, Saroo falls asleep on a train and in a gut-wrenching sequence finds himself awaken on a speeding train. When he arrives in the large and frightening Calcutta, he finds himself forced to wander the busy streets where threats lurk all around. Davis does well to bring forward the daily threats he faces, even from people appear to be kindly strangers Adopted by Sue and John, finally, he finds some stability, although the presence of his other adopted brother Mantosh brings the family its own set of problems. Having grown into a well loved 30-year-old man, Saroo both thrives and feels guilty over his comfortable life.

His eternal restlessness is something that plagues his conscience throughout. His relationship with fellow student Lucy (Rooney Mara) is continually strained by his devotion. Reflecting on the family he left behind, Saroo becomes aware of Google Earth, the problem is he cannot remember the name of his hometown. Sadly the sequence of his frequent browsing on the internet do limit the action of the film. While we feel the passion and dedication that he pours into finding home, at times it feels like a glorified commercial for Google Earth. After a bright and emotionally raw start, the middle ground loses power and constricts us to Saroo looking emotional and lashing out at people. Davis' seems to over emphasise his conflict that he feels with living this happy life and far too much of the picture becomes occupied with him finding himself.

Lion is a picture that visually is a stunning ride and flipping back and forth between the beautiful images of Australia and India very grabbing. As a first time director, Garth Davis has created a very accomplished picture. In particular, his linking of the love that Saroo feels for both sets of his family. Saroo yearns to be reunited with the family he lost but also feels immense guilt lying to the people who raised him. This is not a perfect picture by any means but at the same point, it is one that makes you think about what family truly means. On an emotional level, this movie doesn't go all out and Davis keeps the tears at bay during a well measured last act. This picture will no doubt be popular come awards season, even if it feels a little forced.

Dev Patel makes for an engaging lead as Saroo Brierley. Still digesting the background he has forgotten along with the life he has become accustomed to, Patel excellently portrays a deep inner conflict. Rooney Mara sadly is stranded in what is a somewhat token role as girlfriend Alice, Stuck with mainly nagging Saroo, Mara is given little to work with. Nicole Kidman gives superb support as mother Sue and gives a touching turn. In one brilliant moment, she gives a speech about a vision she had that would lead to her adopting her son. Kidman's heartfelt approach to her character will likely see her among supporting actress nominees.

While you cannot fault Lion for its great story or its ambitions, this just feels like a movie too engineered for awards.