MOVIE REVIEW: CYRANO

 

Cyrano de Bergerac dazzles everyone with his ferocious wordplay and brilliant swordplay. However, he's convinced his appearance renders him unworthy of the affections of the luminous Roxanne, a devoted friend who's in love with someone else.

Director: Joe Wright

Cast: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr. Ben Mendelsohn, Bashir Salahuddin, Monica Dolan

Release Date: February 25, 2022

Genre: Drama, Musical, Romance

Rated PG-13 for some strong violence, thematic and suggestive material, and brief language

Runtime: 2h 4m

Review:

Joe Wright's adaptation of the stage musical of the same name is lavish, heartfelt with an undercurrent of melancholy running throughout its runtime. Wright stages some wonderfully choregraphed sequences paired with songs and lyrics by The National.  The song's lyrics lean more wistful than overtly romantic utilizing a variety of approaches from  spoken word to more operatic.  The majority of the songs aren't instantly memorable but Someone to Say and Wherever I Fall do leave a lasting impression.  Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett reprise their roles from the stage play, bringing a familiarity and confidence to their roles.  The pair shares a tangible sense of chemistry that makes their relationship feel real and grounded.  Dinklage carries the film with relative ease by delivering a performance that's self assured, honest and ultimately heartbreaking.  He's the most interesting performer onscreen for the majority of the film even if his singing voice isn't the best.  Haley Bennett's performance is hindered by an underwritten role but her singing voice is lovely enough to overlook some of the script's deficiencies.   Kelvin Harrison Jr suffers a similar fate with his character's songs being better than his story arch.  Issues aside Cyrano is a solid movie musical take on this classic story elevated by a central performance from Peter Dinklage.

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

 

Influencers looking to breathe new life into a Texas ghost town encounter Leatherface, the legendary killer who wears a mask of human skin.

Director: David Blue Garcia 

Cast: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham, Jacob Latimore, Moe Dunford, Olwen Fouéré, Alice Krige, Jessica Allain, Nell Hudson

Release Date: February 18, 2022 

Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, and language

Runtime: 1h 21m

Review:

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the newest entry in the long running franchise, takes the recent Halloween route ignoring all the sequels after the original.  However instead of doing anything interesting with the conceit David Blue Garcia’s film is total misfire on multiple levels.  Garcia’s disposable and forgettable film comes off as rushed and a haphazard cash in on the franchise name.  The nonsensical script from Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues does nothing but prop up dislikable characters who are nothing more than meat for the grinder.  The main hook here is supposed to be its connection to the original film but for some reason it decides to make Sally, the lone survivor from the original, nothing more than an afterthought and giving her an utterly unsatisfying resolution.  The plot’s only purpose is to serve up mindless blood and gore while ignoring any semblance of a coherent, logical story that ties this entry to the original film.  This iteration Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a disappointing revival which will be forgotten as soon as its finished. 

F

MOVIE REVIEW: UNCHARTED

Nathan Drake and his wisecracking partner Victor "Sully" Sullivan embark on a dangerous quest to find the greatest treasure never found while also tracking clues that may lead to Nate's long-lost brother.

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg,  Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle,  Antonio Banderas

Release Date: February 18, 2022 

Genre: Action, Adventure

Rated PG-13 for violence/action and language

Runtime: 1h 56m

Review:

The Uncharted video game franchise is known for it's cinematic style and plotting so its rather baffling to see the live action take hit the big screen in such a bland vehicle.  I will say that I only have a passing familiarity with the game series but it does seem like a perfect franchise to make the jump to the big screen successfully.  Sadly, the film that ends up on screen feels like a copy of a copy as it delivers retreads of better action adventure films but never delivering anything new or exciting.  Ruben Fleisher's film feels like it's been through multiple focus groups resulting in the most generic action and characters.  The script doesn't help much since it's content with following the path of least resistance leaving very little mystery since you can see every turn coming.  Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg do the best they can with the material but neither can be accused of elevating any of it.  Their central relationship never really works the way it should even though some of the interactions are fun.  Sophia Ali and Tati Gabrielle do more with limited screen time but both of their characters are woefully underdeveloped.  Antonio Banderas is criminally underused as the film's main villain even though he seems game to ham it up.  Uncharted isn't the worst video game adaptation out there but it could have been much better and more memorable.

C

Cindy Prascik's Review of Last Looks

 

My dear reader(s), last weekend I was blessed with one of my favorite film happenings: a new Charlie Hunnam picture. On the docket, Last Looks...not just any Charlie Hunnam picture, but one where he's the STAR.

Spoiler level here will be mild, presumably nothing you wouldn't know from a trailer if you saw one, which I didn't.

An ex-LAPD detective is called to investigate when a drunken actor is accused of murdering his wife.

Last Looks is a solid mystery that still feels like it might have gone straight to video even pre-Covid. While Charlie earns top billing, the biggest name in the cast is definitely Mel Gibson. Putting aside the baggage that now carries, Gibson is teriffic and manages to garner sympathy for a character who is pretty unsympathetic. Practice makes perfect, I guess. For Hunnam, this is a great role and he's great in it. A Charlie Connoisseur, I've endured some lemons on his behalf, so this was a very happy surprise. The rest of the cast is as good as it needs to be, if unspectacular. The story takes some interesting turns, and maintains a dry sense of humor that keeps it from being too grim. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if a streaming service decided to spin this off into a series; both cast and characters seem ideally suited.

Last Looks clocks in at 110 minutes and is rated R for pervasive language.

Last Looks spins an enjoyable yarn, with some laughs thrown in for good measure. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Last Looks gets seven.

Last Looks is now available to rent or buy on Amazon or your cable/dish provider.

Until next time...