MOVIE REVIEW: LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND

 

A family vacation on Long Island is interrupted by two strangers bearing news of a blackout. As the threat grows, both families must decide how best to survive the potential crisis, all while grappling with their own place in this collapsing world.

Director: Sam Esmail

Cast: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la, Kevin Bacon, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans

Release Date: November 22, 2023

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Rated R for language, some sexual content, drug use and brief bloody images.

Runtime: 2h 21m

Sam Esmail's adaptation of the 2020 novel of the same name, Leave the World Behind, is perfectly suited to his particular brand of unsettling and unnerving style.  Anyone familiar with Esmail's Mr. Robot will feel a certain air of familiarity with the approach to this material which traffics in similar themes and subject matters as his signature show.  His ability to frame shots and sequences in off kilter ways gives the entire film an unbalanced feel from the start with even mundane moments giving off a sense that something is off.  There's a methodical approach to the action and reveals which may test some viewer's patience but those willing to go with the flow he establishes will get wrapped up in the general air of confusion and unease that the characters experience.  This approach gives the film's more kinetic moments, particularly a sequence in the woods that makes great use of sound design to create an unnerving moment.  It all works because the director and cast are perfectly in tune from the opening sequence through its finale which is sure to upset more than a handful of viewers.  Julia Roberts leads the cast, clearly relishing the chance to play against type as a cynical and vaguely racist wife who sets up the initial trip.  Ethan Hawke is solid as her aloof, easy going husband.  The pair have believable chemistry together as a couple who've been together for a long time with power structures clearly established.  Mahershala Ali is just as good with a more understated, measured approach as someone who's trying to keep everything even keeled in the face of impending doom.  Roberts and Ali share some wonderful moments together which allow each performer to show off their talents.  Myha'la steals a handful of a scenes during the film as Ali's acerbic daughter.  Farrah Mackenzie and Charlie Evans end up on the other end with unwritten characters who never register on the same level as everyone else mainly due to being underwritten and mostly uninteresting archetypes.  Kevin Bacon has a small but memorable scene, but you get the sense that the film could have made better use of him throughout.  It’s a minor issue which is easy to overlook because of the level of craftmanship that Sam Esmail delivers paired with strong performances from his A list cast makes Leave the World Behind a fascinating, apocalyptic mystery thriller.

A-

Cindy Prascik' s Review of Money Monster

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for the entertaining-as-it-is-depressing Money Monster. 

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers or if you've personally been hosed in the Market, I guess. 

When one of his stock tips proves to be a bust, a brash TV presenter and his crew are taken hostage by an unhappy investor. Money Monster is a bit hokey at times, but that's about its only shortcoming. 

Blessed with two of Hollywood's most capable and engaging leads, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and edge-of-your-seat storytelling, the movie grabs your attention and does not let go. 

Jack O'Connell is also terrific, and it's a credit to his performance how easily you'll begin to side with the guy waving the gun around. 

Money Monster expertly maintains tension throughout, spelled with perfectly-timed humor, and is smart enough not to wear out its welcome. 

The movie's very obvious message is about greed and corruption, but also paints an uncomfortable picture of today's society, as as the hostage situation plays out on live television as "entertainment." 

Money Monster clocks in at a smart 98 minutes and is rated R for "language throughout, some sexuality, and brief violence." It may not bring much new to the table, but Money Monster is an exciting and well-acted picture that's well worth your movie dollar. 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Money Monster gets seven (and fangirl points for Giancarlo Esposito). 

Until next time... 

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 & Secret in Their Eyes

 

 

 

 

Dearest Blog, yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for the depressing double-bill of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 and Secret in Their Eyes. Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers. 

 

 Mama always said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." If I adhered to that advice, I'd have a free day today, but since I wasted yesterday watching these movies, it seems fitting that I waste today writing about them. 

 

First on the docket: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2, the further and final adventures of Katniss Everdeen. Dear Reader(s), let it be noted that I consider myself a fan of the Hunger Games franchise. 

 

It doesn't talk down to its audience, and the folks responsible for bringing it to the screen have done so with genuine regard for quality, rather than just milking a popular franchise for a cash grab. 

 

It's a miserable premise--the sort of thing I'd never watch more than once--but to this point I've given HG full marks for execution. 

 

Sadly, this final installment is a real letdown. For as much as Mockingjay-Part 2 has got going on, it is insufferably slow and dull. Perhaps stretching the final book to two movies was a bad idea, or maybe they've just done a poor job of translating events from page to screen, but I was ready to claw out my eyes long before the halfway point. 

 

The film yadda-yadda-yaddas over at least one thing that seems pretty important, and the ending feels like the author just got bored and turned it over to a 14-year-old fan-fiction writer. On the plus side, James Newton Howard has provided his usual strong score, and there are some nifty effects. 

 

The acting is solid from top to bottom, and Jennifer Lawrence is no less outstanding than when she's fronting something the Academy takes seriously. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 clocks in at an excessive 137 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of violence and action, and for some thematic material." 

 

It's not without its good points, but The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 is, overall, a disappointment. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Mockingjay-Part 2 gets five.

 

Next up: Secret in Their Eyes. A group of law-enforcement professionals presses the law's limits when one of their young daughters is murdered. It's clear, at some point, someone fancied Secret in Their Eyes a legitimate awards contender, The film on which it's based has already collected an Oscar (thanks, Maynard Maynard, for that tidbit!), the cast is mint, and it's a Very Serious Story. 

 

Sadly, it's also a tedious affair in which the twists happen exactly how and when you'd expect, and two-thirds of the decorated principals are embarrassingly bad. 

 

Nicole Kidman is about as expressive as a ventriloquist's dummy, which may be less about her actual acting than it is about her tinkering with her face 'til it no longer moves. On the other end of the spectrum, Julia Roberts flails through the proceedings "as if there were no such thing as overacting." (I have shamelessly poached that glorious insult from an old review of Gary Oldman's performance in Bram Stoker's Dracula!) 

 

Chiwetel Ejiofor is terrific, making it hard to believe he's the only one of the three who doesn't (yet) have an Oscar. 

 

An unnecessary romantic subplot adds nothing, and the movie seems to take it as a matter of personal pride that each storyline reaches the least-satisfying resolution possible. Secret in Their Eyes runs 111 minutes and is rated PG13 for "thematic material involving disturbing violent content, language, and some sexual references." 

 

Secret in Their Eyes has all the pieces of a great bit of cinema, but, unfortunately, it fails to put them together. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Secret in Their Eyes gets four. 

 

If you are visiting the cinema this weekend, and--like me--you weren't lucky enough to get Legend or Spotlight, I suggest you revisit Spectre or The Peanuts Movie, and take a pass on these two downers. 

 

Until next time...

[Trailer] MIRROR, MIRROR

About as far removed from the tone of last week’s Snow White and the Huntsman, Tarsem Singh's Mirror Mirror has an almost comedic tone with Julia Roberts chewing up scenery like a crazy. Lily Collins does seem like a more suitable Snow White in my opinion.

Singh’s visuals, as usual, are incredibly impressive but it’s a totally different genre on the same material, should be very interesting to compare and contrast when both projects come out…..