We're No Angels: Review of First Reformed

First Reformed

Director: Paul Schrader

By Alex Watson

Very few men are able to tap into the dark subconscious of a man like Paul Schrader. His most recent effort First Reformed goes the core of a man riddled with doubts. Like Taxi Driver if Travis Bickle donned religious cloth, the very question of our existence and whether humanity is worthy of redemption surround this movie. Anchored by a stand-out turn from Ethan Hawke, this is a movie that deserves academy consideration.

Father Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is a priest at the run-down Dutch First Reformed church which is soon to celebrate its 250th anniversary. Suffering from cancer and riddled with self-doubt, Toller is a solitary figure who is questioning the faith he used to believe in. Parishioner Mary (Amanda Seyfried) asks him to counsel her activist husband Michael (Philip Ettinger). Soon after, Toller begins to descend into a spiral which could make not just himself fall apart.

Filmed against a stark and wintery upstate New York, First Reformed is a movie which demonstrates the decay of society and how its foundation is crumbling. Often in Schrader's movie, we see imagery of rusted buildings and toxic waste dumps. The intent is clear, the world is being ruined by industrialists and if money talks, it will happen. Toller is a man who frequently expresses his doubts in voiceover. Often sat in dimly lit rooms drinking a glass of whiskey, it becomes clear that he has strayed from the path sometime previously. Still haunted by the death of his son which he may have inadvertently caused, Toller is a man who wonders whether God can forgive the human race. His meeting with the radical Michael seems to set off a dangerous spark within him. Michael believes that his pregnant wife shouldn't bring a child into 'such a fucked up world'.

His stand-off against Pastor Jeffers (an excellent Cedric The Entertainer), the leader of the bigger and more influential church Abundant Life is often pulsating. His church is ridiculed as a 'Souvenir Shop' despite being an important historical landmark. His disgust at their celebration being funded by a major pharmaceutical corporation is plain as day and Jeffers simply wants him to keep quiet. As the tension builds, we see Toller sulking the night like a wolf and the narration gives a window into the soul of a man on the verge of something unclear. The pumping electronic score by Lustmond fills the atmosphere with a dark sense of dread. Frequently Schrader drags his audience to the depths of despair and like our protagonist we are filled with anguish.

Toller is a man taking a one-person stand against society. Frequently he pushes away any sense of comfort- his vicious verbal attack on the kind Esther (Victoria Hill) who has feelings for him is particularly savage. Mary seems to embody the purity of humanity that he feels has been lost to the world. As First Reformed develops, so does the pair's chemistry. While Schrader excellently builds the suspense to stifling levels, the ending is more abrupt than some may expect. While there is a glorious yet baffling sequence set against the hymn 'Leaning on Everlasting Arms' it feels almost deflating after such a chest-tightening ride.

Already one of Hollywood's most underrated leading men- Ethan Hawke gives a career best as the conflicted Toller. Bringing everyone into his conscience and plagued with illness and doubts, Hawke's face frequently tells the whole story. This is the role that he was born to play and Hawke is a powerful force whenever he is on screen and does a masterful job of showing the strain of keeping up appearances. Amanda Seyfried also makes for solid support, but its Cedric the Entertainer (credited here as Cedric Kyles) who makes the most impression. Jeffers is a man who puts the face of the church above morals and Kyles makes for an excellent sparring partner for Hawke.

First Reformed is a welcome to return to cinema for Paul Schrader and shows there are few filmmakers who can show the plight of society better than him.

Lucky Seven: Review of The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven

Director: Antoine Fuqua

By Alex Watson

The odds were stacked against Antoine Fuqua almost from day one when he announced his remake of The Magnificent Seven. Though there are sporadic moments of entertainment, this remake fails to even touch upon the cool or classy nature of either of the two originals. At points, Fuqua does manage to conjure a gold ol' western gunfire in the vein of Sam Peckinpah, but this remake runs out shells pretty fast.

The town of Rose Creek has been constantly bullied and robbed by rich businessman Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard). After the death of her husband (Matt Bomer), widow Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) convinces bounty Sam Chisholm (Denzel Washington) to help defend their town. Faced with a monumentally difficult task, Chisholm seeks out Civil War hero Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), tracker Jack Horne (Vincent D'onofrio) and drunken gunslinger Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt) alongside three more killers to keep the villains at bay.

While it has a slick delivery and an impressive cast, The Magnificent Seven is not a movie that will break any real boundaries. It is a fun experience, but there is little in the way of gritty or memorable in this desert. Starting with a gutsy entrance by Bogue who corners the village's population in a church and then burns the building to the ground, we at least get a nasty villain for the seven to play off against. Peter Sarsgaard is wonderfully nasty at this part but never gets to fully expose this evil at its fullest. Fuqua seems in a hurry to get the gang together and we never really get to learn anything of our heroes. Goodnight Robicheaux gets the deepest backstory as a Civil War sharpshooter nicknamed 'The Angel of Death' for his 23 kills. Suffering from PTSD, Robicheaux is a man who has become a toothless bear in the heat of battle.

The Seven each have their merits, Chisholm is a man looking for justice for something close to home, Faraday is cheeky chappie with a penchant for magic tricks, Horne is a gentle yet brutal tracker that looks like Santa Claus went rural. Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) and Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee) are just good at killing stuff. There are the obligatory montage sequences as the men train the town to defend itself while picking off the corrupt lawmen that have allowed Bogue to run riot. Being denied a chance to really know or understand these characters leaves a flat aftertaste and they seem like seven guys are just doing this deed because they have nothing better to do. While both John Sturges and Akira Kurosawa dedicated more time to allow their audience to know their heroes, this remake feels worst off without it.

When the big showdown hits, Fuqua does raise the film's thrill levels and as the body count stacks up. Sadly we have no heroes we are really rooting for and our interest in who lives or dies is long gone by this stage. Wanting to reenact grizzly finales like The Wild Bunch, Fuqua is left with a more family friend scenario and what could have been a gutsy display of iron will is just dull and uninteresting. Missing the presence of men like Yul Brenner and Steve McQueen, this seven bonds well together on screen but we never sense there is much comradery among them. Fuqua did a good job resurrecting The Equalizer with Washington, but lightning fails to strike twice.

Denzel Washington is cool as Sam Chisholm but his character depth is barely a foot deep. We know he has his own motives for going after Bogue, but we never really feel the heat or anger coming off them. A frequent collaborator with Fuqua, this movie will not go down as one of his more memorable efforts. Chris Pratt is also stranded in what is essentially a one-note role as Josh Faraday. Given little to do other than giving the same kind of lovable guy persona we've seen in all his recent movies, Pratt feels wasted in what could have been a good redoing of Steve McQueen's Vin. Ethan Hawke has some fine moments as Goodnight and is perhaps the one character that truly stands out, mainly because we actually know more about him.

The Magnificent Seven is another Hollywood classic given an inferior remake, all film fans can do is wonder what this could have been in better hands. Seven Samurai fans beware of future remake attempts.

For The Love Of The Game: Review of The Phenom

The Phenom

Director: Noah Buschel

By Alex Watson

Ethan Hawke once again electrifies as one of cinema's most monstrous sports Dad's, but despite the great chemistry between leads, The Phenom is a movie that hard to define. Going well beyond the normal ground for baseball movies, Buschel is more interested in the psychological effects of the player himself. This is not a story of redemption but is more about a young who trying to find his way back to who he once was.

Hopper Gibson (Johnny Simmons) is a talented young pitcher who has begun to struggle. Concerned with this slump his team sends him to a sports psychologist Dr. Mobley (Paul Giamatti). Through these sessions, Mobley gains an insight to the emotional abuse his jailbird father (Ethan Hawke) inflicted on him to win at all costs. Is this the root cause of his problems? Or do things go even deeper?

More of a character study than a movie, The Phenom is still an intriguing piece that asks some serious questions of what pressures young men face on the road to the top. Hopper is ranked as the 3rd best young prodigy in America, but after throwing five wild pitches in one inning people are becoming concerned. Buschel moves in and out of his backstory of growing up in the small Port St Lucie, Florida. Hopper is a big star on his high school team with a beautiful girlfriend (Sophie Kennedy-Clark). But despite the adoration of his peers and his mother, Hopper seems oblivious to it all and seems to be lost within his own world.

The moment that his father, Hopper Sr enters the picture the blue touch paper is truly lit. Once a talented player himself, his life has become wayward and he is now fresh out of prison once again. Immediately abusive to his son by throwing a beer can at his head, Hopper Sr lives his dreams through junior. One scene sees him going banana's at his son during a high school game, then being arrested seconds later. Bitter and cynical of his wasted life, he's become the overly competitive Dad that child dread. Jealous over his son's success, he finds joy in his petty torments and we see a window into the issues that plague the young man.

When Mobley meets with Hopper, these scenes are what confuse the picture because we are not sure whether this is a psychological drama or a father and son study? Still, they hold their own effect as, despite his successes, Hopper remains unconcerned with his plight. Suspicious of all whole surround him, he has found it hard to hold down meaningful relationships and thanks to his father's abuse his love the game has now begun to dissolve. Despite Giamatti being solid, Mobley offers little as a character and feels more like a last minute inclusion. The picture works best when father and son hold the screen together and The Phenom's electricity is built around this.

Johnny Simmons has always been a young talent to watch and in The Phenom he shows precisely why. Doing a fine job of bringing to light Hopper's pessimistic view of the world and wondering just how he fits into it. Simmons does well to show the conflict of his feelings towards his father because bizarrely he might not have been the same without him. Ethan Hawke is a force of nature as Hopper Sr and is very much the driving force of Buschel's movie. Blasting on the screen like a hurricane force, Hawke thrills and frightens us in equal measure whenever he appears. "Everything you've accomplished, you owe to me," he mocks at one stage. Junior will never be free or escape his influence and Hawke makes us feel every second of it.

The performances alone deserve consideration come award season, but Noah Buschel's The Phenom is still a fascination and confusing piece that deserves attention. Sport Dad's take note, this is a picture that will teach you how NOT to raise your kid (if only for the wild pitches!).