July 28, 2026
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Destin Daniel Cretton, Florence Pugh, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Liza Colón-Zayas, Mark Ruffalo, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvin Jones III, MCU, Michael Mando, Sadie Sink, Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Tom Holland, Tramell Tillman, Zabryna Guevara, Zendaya
…Started up a Brand New Day! (CREDIT: Marvel/Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, Michael Mando, Mark Ruffalo, Florence Pugh, Liza Colón-Zayas, Marvin Jones III, Zabryna Guevara
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Running Time: 145 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Occasionally Gnarly Action Violence, and a Little Bit of Language
Release Date: July 31, 2026 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: It’s been a lonely life for the Tom Holland version of Peter Parker ever since his last big screen adventure. He’s still Spider-Man, and New Yorkers still love their arachnid guardian, but a spell has been cast that has made everyone forget the entire existence of the human being behind the mask. He’s inching towards re-introducing himself to his former girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), but he’s got to be careful, since there are always new threats lurking around the corner. This time around, the primary threat is a mysterious newcomer (Sadie Sink) with the ability to jump her consciousness into other people who’s trying to expose a secret at the suspiciously friendly Department of Damage Control. Meanwhile, Peter seems to be going through a sort of second adolescence, as he develops new powers and then consults a relatively Hulk-free Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to help him get a grip on these emerging abilities.
What Made an Impression?: The Day After When?: To rewatch or not to rewatch? That’s always one of the big questions at the heart of the latest MCU release. With Brand New Day, I wondered if I ought to revisit 2021’s No Way Home to remind myself how we got to the point where nobody remembered Peter Parker anymore. But ultimately, I decided I would prefer not to and instead see how this chapter stands on its own (which is typically my prerogative in general). And I believe I made the right decision. While things started off feeling a little vague, I appreciated that this movie didn’t feel the need to recap itself to death and instead give off at least a hint of mystery.
Criss-Cross: Brand New Day reaches towards the platonic ideal of a true low-key comic book crossover sensibility. We’ve seen Peter team up with all the major Avengers already, but what about the other rando Marvel heroes and villains we’ve yet to see him interact with before? Several of them are in this movie! But not all of them, as that would be too overwhelming. Sometimes superhero flicks have multiple antagonists combined with a whole host of friendly cameos, and it ends up feeling like three or four (or a thousand) different movies smashed together. But in this case, it feels natural enough that all these folks would be interacting with each other in this series of scenarios.
They Had an Effect on Me: My biggest bummer with BND is that the visual effects are too slick in the way that our digitized and sanitized CGI era so often is. There’s just not much tactility as Spidey swings around the Big Apple. Nevertheless, there is a decent amount of emotional heft to the big set pieces. It helps when there are some close-up shots interspersed within those sequences, as Tom Holland’s eternally youthful visage immediately conveys plenty of vulnerability.
Brand New Enough Indeed: Ultimately, I’m pleased to report that I was satisfied by Brand New Day because it didn’t feel like just more of the same once again in the way that so many Marvel movies have. While it didn’t quite blow me away like the most transcendent examples of this genre, I never quite knew where we headed. The reveals are clever, the ideas are sincere, and the enthusiasm is still real.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is Recommended If You Like: A mix of the old and the new
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Lattice Quanta
July 15, 2026
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Andrew Howard, Anne Hathaway, Benny Safdie, Bill Irwin, Charlize Theron, Christopher Nolan, Corey Hawkins, Elliot Page, Elyes Gabel, Himesh Patel, James Remar, Jimmy Gonzales, John Leguizamo, Jon Bernthal, Logan Marshall-Green, Lupita Nyong’o, Matt Damon, Mia Goth, Robert Pattinson, Samantha Morton, The Odyssey, The Odyssey 2026, Tom Holland, Travis Scott, Will Yun Lee, Zendaya
It certainly has been an Odyssey (CREDIT: Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)
Starring: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Bill Irwin, Himesh Patel, Will Yun Lee, Corey Hawkins, Mia Goth, Logan Marshall-Green, Jimmy Gonzales, Andrew Howard, Travis Scott, Elliot Page, James Remar, Elyes Gabel
Director: Christopher Nolan
Running Time: 173 Minutes
Rating: R for Monstrous Violence and a Few Four-Letter Words
Release Date: July 17, 2026 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: The King of Ithaca, just wants to get back home! And if he could, he’d also like to safely return the men who served alongside him in the Trojan War, thank you very much. It’s been years. Decades, even! Obviously, travel times were much longer in the B.C. days, but when it’s getting to be ten years since the end of the war (on top of the ten that the war itself lasted), it’s a little ridiculous even by Ancient Greek standards. But that’s just the daily struggle for Odysseus when his life is ruled by the gods and they place a series of monstrous and magical obstacles in his way. Back in Ithaca, Odysseus’s queen Penelope and son Telemachus have been patiently and faithfully awaiting his return. But the situation is becoming more and more untenable, as a legion of suitors are demanding that Penelope finally get around to remarrying one of them. We’re talking about one of the most enduring works of mythic storytelling in human history, and this version from Christopher Nolan can reasonably claim to be the most epic adaptation yet.
What Made an Impression?: The Entire Known World: The moment that most blew me away in this telling of The Odyssey was a simple but all-encompassing shot of a ship navigating along a seemingly endless sea. Simply put, if you give Christopher Nolan hundreds of millions of dollars, he’s going to make you re-evaluate our entire conception of reality, even if he’s telling a story we’ve heard plenty of times before.
As Epic as They Wanna Be: That ship shot is a microcosm of Nolan’s entire odyssean m.o. This is an epic film with an epic cast, on epic sets, with epic visual effects, soundtracked by an epic score. Even Odysseus’ loyal pooch Argos was probably the oldest living dog of his era! And nothing sticks out awkwardly just to add to the gargantuanness. Every piece of this movie, no matter how major or minor, is there to shoot its meaning directly into our souls.
They Are Merely Players: Is Matt Damon now the gold standard for Odysseus? Does Anne Hathaway’s Penelope one-up everyone? Is Tom Holland’s Telemachus simply undeniable? As far as the acting is concerned, basically the entire cast performed their parts more or less exactly as I expected them to, and they all acquitted themselves quite well. I kinda wish at least one performance had been much more unpredictable so that I could say something weirder, but I’m not complaining. Sometimes meeting expectations is exactly how you must rise to the occasion.
How’s Your Appetite?: You know what else blew me away? The scene when Circe (Samantha Morton) turns Odysseus’ men into swine. The warping of their faces into porcine mugs is some legitimately groovy body horror. And the rest of the visual effects are similarly creative and effective at conveying the sense that human existence is totally helpless.
A Word From the Head Honcho: As I wrap up this review, let me end on a theme that this film underlines over and over: Zeus’ Law. The idea is that any visitor in your home could be a god in disguise, so you really ought to treat them with hospitality. This is a lesson that transcends all religions and societies, and it goes a long way towards explaining why Odysseus is able to last as long as he does. The Greek gods may have been petty and cruel, but I nevertheless hope that plenty of moviegoers end up taking Zeus’ Law to heart.
The Odyssey is Recommended If You Like: Rereading books you read in high school, Ray Harryhausen, Cecil B. DeMille
Grade: 4 out of 5 Suitors
May 1, 2025
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Aaron Deakins, Adain Bradley, Adrian Martinez, Alex Brockdorff, Alex Garland, Alice Hewkin, Barbara Probst, Caitríona Balfe, Charles Melton, Cosmo Jarvis, Danny Sapani, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Donya Hussen, Evan Holtzman, Finn Bennett, Henry Garrett, Henry Zaga, Holt McCallany, James Hawes, Jon Bernthal, Joseph Millson, Joseph Quinn, Julianne Nicholson, Kit Connor, Laurence Fishburne, Marc Rissmann, Michael Gandolfini, Michael Stuhlbarg, Nathan Altai, Noah Centineo, Rachel Brosnahan, Rami Malek, Ray Mendoza, Takehiro Hira, Taylor John Smith, The Amateur, Warfare, Will Poulter
A Warfarer and an Amateur (CREDIT: A24; 20th Century Studios/Screenshot)
Warfare
Starring: Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, Michael Gandolfini, Adain Bradley, Noah Centineo, Evan Holtzman, Henry Zaga, Alex Brockdorff, Nathan Altai, Donya Hussen, Aaron Deakins
Directors: Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: April 11, 2025 (Theaters)
The Amateur
Starring: Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Danny Sapani, Jon Bernthal, Adrian Martinez, Marc Rissmann, Joseph Millson, Barbara Probst, Alice Hewkin, Henry Garrett, Takehiro Hira
Director: James Hawes
Running Time: 124 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: April 11, 2025 (Theaters)
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April 24, 2025
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Allison Robertson, Andrew Howard, Ben Affleck, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, Gavin O'Connor, Grant Harvey, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Robert Morgan, The Accountant, The Accountant 2
Accounting for the Accountant (and His Brother) (CREDIT: Amazon MGM Studios © Amazon Content Services LLC)
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, Allison Robertson, J.K. Simmons, Robert Morgan, Grant Harvey, Andrew Howard
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Running Time: 132 Minutes
Rating: R for Big Guns and Joint Twisting
Release Date: April 25, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Autistic accountant Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) thought he could spend his time hacking the algorithm at a speed dating event, but it turns out that his unique talents are required by the Treasury Department once again. Agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is a little wary about working with him, considering his extra-legal methods of enforcement. But it does seem like he’s the only one who can connect the dots between a mysterious woman (Daniella Pineda) and an immigrant couple whose son has been missing for years. Meanwhile, Christian calls up his brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) for some added muscle and to inject some odd couple levity into the proceedings.
What Made an Impression?: My History with The Accountant: Longtime readers of my reviews are probably already familiar with my deeply held belief that you don’t need to catch the original before you see any of the sequels. So I’m not ashamed to admit that I have not seen the first Accountant. But I am a little surprised to report that I felt a little lost without that background info. While The Accountant 2 offers a pretty self-contained story, more character-defining context would have been welcomed had it been offered.
Does It Make Perfect Sense or Am I Perfectly Confused?: The investigation mostly revolves around Pineda’s character, who basically became a superhuman assassin after suffering a traumatic brain injury. Honestly, I’m not sure if that’s a spoiler or part of the premise. Anyway, she’s somehow linked to a wider conspiracy involving kidnapping and human trafficking. It’s a criminal labyrinth that I was able to follow along with until the very end, when I found myself wondering, “Wait a minute, what’s the story here?” Each individual scene justifies and explains itself well enough, but the strings between them feel pretty loose. (Unless you’re Christian Wolff, perhaps?)
Just Two Dudes: Anyway, I’m not sure I really want to understand the parts of The Accountant 2 that left me squinty-eyed. By the climax, it mostly devolves into a macho burst of relentless artillery that I really didn’t care for, but along the way, Affleck and Bernthal’s oil-and-water fraternal chemistry makes for a decent hang. I understand why these two get on each other’s nerves, and I’d much rather watch them get up to trouble in a honky-tonk bar rather than save the country or whatever.
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Acquired Savants
January 16, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Audra McDonald, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Ava DuVernay, Blair Underwood, Connie Nielsen, Donna Mills, Emily Yancy, Finn Wittrock, Gaurav J. Pathania, Isabel Wilkerson, Isha Blaaker, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Jon Bernthal, Leonardo Nam, Mieke Schymura, Myles Frost, Nick Offerman, Niecy Nash-Betts, Origin, Suraj Yengde, Vera Farmiga, Victoria Pedretti
CREDIT: NEON/Screenshot
Starring: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash-Betts, Emily Yancy, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald, Blair Underwood, Donna Mills, Leonardo Nam, Connie Nielsen, Finn Wittrock, Victoria Pedretti, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Mieke Schymura, Isha Blaaker, Myles Frost, Gaurav J. Pathania, Suraj Yengde, Nick Offerman
Director: Ava DuVernay
Running Time: 135 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Historical Discrimination
Release Date: December 8, 2023 (Awards-Qualifying Run)/January 19, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Perhaps you read the 2020 nonfiction book Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents and found yourself wondering how the author, Isabel Wilkerson, went about crafting such a book. Well, it’s your lucky day, because in the grand tradition of Adaptation, Ava DuVernay has written and directed Origin, a big-screen version that reveals the story behind the story. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor plays Isabel, whom we’re introduced to in the buildup to Caste‘s publication. We also get to know her ailing mother Ruby (Emily Yancy), her protective husband Brett (Jon Bernthal), and her cousin Marion (Niecy Nash-Betts). Interspersed within are some stories that demonstrate Isabel’s theory about how American racism is a classic example of social stratification seen throughout human history.
What Made an Impression?: Hung Up in Jargon: Since it is the story of a writer’s life, I was a little worried that Origin would be a little too talky for its own good. And for the first third or so, my fears were well-founded. As Isabel has polite debates with her editor and fellow cocktail party attendees, I realized why these conversations are not usually considered especially cinematic. These moments might be interesting to literature grad students, but for the rest of the population, they could come off a little dull and impenetrable.
Compelling Turning Point: Fortunately the rest of the movie does not maintain that overly literary veneer. And there’s one crucial scene that spells out a change in priorities. Isabel and Marion are hanging out together at a family cookout while Isabel explains the premise of her new book. Marion is initially bewildered by her rather abstract explanation, but then Isabel gets down to brass tacks with a more concrete example of what she’s getting at. Marion then assures her that this sort of storytelling ability is exactly how she should write her book, and the movie wisely follows that cue as well.
The Points Become Salient: Isabel’s journey of writing Caste takes her to the American Deep South, Nazi Germany, and India, with historical re-enactments illustrating how each of these societies have been shaped by strikingly similar caste systems. These segments are fairly straightforward, but what pushes them over the edge are Isabel’s reactions of inspiration. Ellis-Taylor is a subtle master at quiet euphoria. (That quality also serves as a counterpoint to the deep wells of sadness she must convey.) By the end of the movie, you’ll hopefully be able to feel as hopeful as Isabel appears to be. Not because these intractable problems will be solved anytime soon, but at the very least because someone is able to identify and explain them.
Origin is Recommended If You Like: Anti-racism, Listening to people who have liberal arts degrees
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Castes
November 30, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Aunjanue Ellis, Demi Singleton, Jon Bernthal, King Richard, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Richard Williams, Saniyya Sidney, Tennis, Tony Goldwyn, Will Smith
King Richard (CREDIT: Warner Bros. Pictures/Screenshot)
Starring: Will Smith, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Aunjanue Ellis, Tony Goldwyn, Jon Bernthal
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Running Time: 145 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: November 19, 2021 (Theaters and HBO Max)
At the beginning of the 2021 film King Richard, Richard Williams (not the actual Richard Williams, but the version of him played by Will Smith) is listening in his car about how the proper way to hit a tennis serve involves making a high-five gesture while striking the ball. This prompted me to immediately move my butt and try that technique out while sitting in the theater. I love watching tennis, and I’ve been meaning to get around to playing the game myself. (I guess I’m just looking for the right doubles partner.)
So anyway, that bit of “practice” immediately had me hyped, and that excitement lasted for the entire two hour-plus runtime. I probably would’ve been excited anyway, as sports biopics tend to inspire that reaction. But it was pretty essential that it happened right away, so that Richard’s stubbornness didn’t wear me down. In conclusion, I really loved ALL the instructional moments of this movie.
Grade: 4 Open Stances out of 1 Closed Stance
September 29, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Alan Taylor, Alessandro Nivola, Billy Magnussen, Corey Stoll, David Chase, John Magaro, Jon Bernthal, Leslie Odom Jr., Michael Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli, Michela De Rossi, Ray Liotta, The Many Saints of Newark, The Sopranos, Vera Farmiga, William Ludwig
The Many Saints of Newark (CREDIT: Warner Bros. Pictures/Screenshot)
Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Ray Liotta, Michael Gandolfini, Leslie Odom Jr., Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Michela De Rossi, Corey Stoll, Billy Magnussen, John Magaro, William Ludwig, Michael Imperioli
Director: Alan Taylor
Running Time: 120 Minutes
Rating: R for The Typical Vices of Mobsters
Release Date: October 1, 2021 (Theaters and HBO Max)
Watching The Many Saints of Newark mostly just made me want to finally get around to watching The Sopranos. I’m a noted TV buff, so it’s been on my to-watch list for quite a while, but in this case the experience was a little more Pavlovian. As the end credits started rolling, they were accompanied by the familiar bass-and-drum intro of Alabama 3’s “Woke Up This Morning,” aka one of the best TV theme songs of all time. It was as if this movie were just one long cold opening for the TV series it serves as a prequel for, and the only appropriate next step would be pressing play on the first episode. If the point of The Many Saints of Newark is indeed to get everyone who doesn’t already consider The Sopranos one of the greatest shows of all time to finally get around to checking it out, well, then, it kind of did its job.
But that’s a rather small-scale ambition for a two-hour movie. And I think it’s safe to assume that Sopranos creator David Chase had a lot more on his mind than that when co-penning this screenplay with Lawrence Konner. Essentially, this works as a sort of “Expanded Universe” addition to the Sopranos lore. Fans of the show get to discover the backstories of what their favorite characters were up to decades earlier in the midst of the 1967 Newark race riots. People will be pointing at their screens declaring things like, “Hey look, it’s Corey Stoll as a handsome young Uncle Junior!” And they’ll be wondering just how Vera Farmiga rounds out our understanding of Tony’s mom Livia. (Spoiler alert: she gets upset a lot at the men in her family.) And speaking of Tony, who can resist seeing if James Gandolfini’s son Michael can pull off the polo shirts just as iconically as his dad did? I know I can’t, and I only know about all this via pop culture osmosis.
As for how Many Saints stands by itself as its own particular story, it’s perfectly fine. It explores plenty of similar themes covered in countless other Italian-American mafia sagas, delivered with adequately convincing panache. The focus is not primarily on Tony, but rather Alessandro Nivola’s Dickie Moltisanti (father of Christopher, played in The Sopranos by Michael Imperioli, who narrates the film). Dickie is basically a model for manhood to a teenage Tony, which is a running concern in the midst of a whole lot of plot involving turf wars, mistresses, and stolen Mr. Softee trucks.
The most compelling moments are between Nivola and Ray Liotta as Dickie’s Uncle Sal (he also pulls double duty as Dickie’s hotheaded dad). Sal is the designated reformed mobster, dispensing Buddhist-informed advice to Dickie about “the Wanting” of life that leads to pain and suffering. Liotta’s casting of course calls back to his lead role in Goodfellas (in much the same way that Lorraine Bracco’s portrayal of Dr. Melfi did the same in The Sopranos). It’s during these conversations that Many Saints‘ reckoning with a long and inescapable tradition is most resonant. That tradition is basically impossible to escape, both for the characters living them and the pop culture creators and consumers drowning in them. We’re still stuck in this paradigm.
The Many Saints of Newark is Recommended If You Like: Sixtysomething actors inverting their most iconic roles, Accents as thick as gabagool, Violence punctuated by hairpiece-based comedy
Grade: 3 out of 5 Whackings
December 2, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
24 Hours of Le Mans, Catriona Balfe, Christian Bale, Ford v Ferrari, James Mangold, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Le Mans 66, Matt Damon, Noah Jupe, Ray McKinnon, Remo Girone, Tracy Letts
CREDIT: Twentieth Century Fox
I’m not sure what the message of Ford v Ferrari is, and I’m not sure if that’s a mostly good or mostly bad thing. (We could be doing a lot worse in this world!) Is it about how you can’t ever stop American individualism from being as individual as possible? Or is it about how the United States won’t ever stay an underdog for long, even in pursuits usually dominated by the Europeans? If it’s either of those, then why is the main character an Englishman? Maybe it’s about how teammates stick with each other no matter what, and the whole American-ness of it all just be how it be. Certainly what stuck with me the most is the friendship between Christian Bale’s vroom-vroom-goer Ken Miles and Matt Damon’s vroom-vroom-guider Carroll Shelby. It’s an oft-contentious relationship, which only makes sense when you’re gearing up for a race that lasts a full day. Such competition, such support, such politics behind the whole affair – I saw it all!
I give Ford v Ferrari 240 out of 360 Laps.
November 14, 2018
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Brian Tyree Henry, Carrie Coon, Colin Farrell, Cynthia Erivo, Daniel Kaluuya, Elizabeth Debicki, Garret Dillahunt, Jacki Weaver, Jon Bernthal, Liam Neeson, Lukas Haas, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Matt Walsh, Michelle Rodriguez, Molly Kunz, Robert Duvall, Steve McQueen, Viola Davis, Widows
CREDIT: Twentieth Century Fox
This review was originally published on News Cult in November 2018.
Starring: Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Liam Neeson, Jacki Weaver, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, Lukas Haas, Garret Dillahunt, Molly Kunz, Jon Bernthal, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo
Director: Steve McQueen
Running Time: 129 Minutes
Rating: R for Professional Criminals at Their Scariest
Release Date: November 16, 2018
Sometimes I am at a loss of what to say about a film because of how powerfully it has affected me. Widows is one of those films. Its immediate effect was similar to that of The Dark Knight, in which I sat stunned, not quite sure what had happened, but certain that I had seen something special. Steve McQueen’s massively sprawling saga about Chicago crime and politics is populated by a ridiculously sterling cast, with at least ten, or maybe fifteen, of them receiving the gift of really juicy material to bite into.
Chief among them, in all fairness, are the titular widows, who are left to clean up the very expensive mess left behind by their recently deceased criminal husbands. Veronica (Viola Davis), Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), and Alice (Elizabeth Debicki) are forced to form an uneasy alliance or run the risk of the rest of their livelihoods dissolving away. While each actress is compelling, their characters are not necessarily likable. Do they bear some guilt for benefitting from their husbands’ activity despite not knowing what they were tup to? On the other hand, they are in many ways trapped in a situation with no good options for escape. Their predicament demonstrates the limits of feminism and standing up for a yourself in a world ruled by violence.
Thus far in this review, I have barely touched upon even 10% of this film. It runs just a little over two hours, but it is so stuffed with goodness that I am amazed it is under three hours, yet it is simultaneously so sleek that it feels like it is running for just an hour and a half. There are about six (maybe more) stories running alongside each other and somehow they run seamlessly together. There’s Bryan Tyree Henry as a crime boss trying to break good by running for alderman in a gentrifying neighborhood and Daniel Kaluuya as his brother and terrifying enforcer. His opponent is Colin Farrell, who is struggling with maximal agita as he finds his place as a successor in a long line of Chicago politicians. And we cannot forget Cynthia Erivo as a babysitter/beautician/hustler who also plays a big part in all this. Plus there is plenty more to know about the shadowy machinations of ringleader Harry Rawlins (Liam Neeson), Veronica’s husband. And how is there also room for Matt Walsh to show up for one key scene?! McQueen is dynamite with his clear, effective craftsmanship. If you see Widows, you will likely understand everything that happens plot-wise, and you might also just feel compelled to take part in the exhaustive analysis of every frame that is sure to follow in the years to come.
Widows is Recommended If You Like: Heat, The Town, The Dark Knight, “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” by Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin
Grade: 4.5 out of 5 Aldermen
August 2, 2017
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Jeremy Renner, Jon Bernthal, Taylor Sheridan, Wind River
CREDIT: Fred Hayes/The Weinstein Company
This review was originally posted on News Cult in August 2017.
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Jon Bernthal
Director: Taylor Sheridan
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Rating: R for the Terrible Things That Men Do When They Think They Can Get Away With It
Release Date: August 4, 2017 (Limited)
As a lover of cinema, I favor originality, moreso in terms of premise than subject matter. It is worthwhile to give voice to underrepresented stories, but it can be disheartening when they hew closely to the formulas of familiar narratives. Wind River makes those conclusions a little more complicated by baking the invisibility into its entire purpose. The dead body of a young woman is discovered in the snow in Wisconsin’s Wind River Indian Reservation, and the investigation is complicated by the harshness of the elements, the fact that this is technically a federal jurisdiction, and the lack of attention given to Native American women in peril.
Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen), the FBI agent sent to investigate, pulls up right in front of the check-in cabin but cannot see it, as a relentless blizzard erases any concept of visibility. That is not the only way she is unprepared, as the locals assure her that her lack of winter gear means she is liable to freeze to death in a matter of hours in the woods. She just flew in from Las Vegas but was somehow the closest agent available. The residents of Wind River are bemused, but not offended. They are used to being forgotten and either making peace with the harsh conditions or surrendering to them.
Most of Wind River is a team-up between Banner and US Fish and Wildlife agent Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), a tracker who knows the land better than anyone and discovered the body in the first place. She is the novice outsider doing her best to understand this world, and he, with a Native ex-wife and son, is the outsider from within. The snow and the lack of hard evidence force them to take meditative breaks and philosophical detours, rendering much of the film a lament about the waste of promising life. For those of you who prefer your mysteries wrapped up neatly, the truth of the crime is eventually revealed in a bravura flashback, but the full extent of it is only presented to the audience. The investigative team puts it all together, but this is still a world in which everything is ephemeral unless someone shines a light on it.
Wind River is Recommended If You Like: Hell or High Water, Mud, Prisoners
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Frostbites
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