Is ‘Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale’ The Sort of Movie That Makes You Say ‘Wherever You Go, There You Are?’

September 23, 2025

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Please clap (CREDIT: Rory Mulvey/Focus Features)

Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy, Paul Copley, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Michael Fox, Joanne Froggatt, Paul Giamatti, Harry Hadden-Paton, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Douglas Reith, Dominic West, Penelope Wilton, Simon Russell Beale, Alessandro Nivola, Arty Froushan, Joely Richardson

Director: Simon Curtis

Running Time: 124 Minutes

Rating: PG

Release Date: September 12, 2025 (Theaters)

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale very much feels like it’s about the end of an era. Much the same way that the first Downton Abbey movie and Downton Abbey: A New Era felt like they were about the end of an era. I’ve never seen a single episode of the same-named TV show that these films are based on, but I’m going to guess that it also had something to do with reckoning with the end of an era. Anyway, in this latest edition, that reckoning mostly consists of the Crawleys dealing with the possibility that they might have to live somewhere else, maybe even an apartment*! (*-Aka a “flat” in Britspeak.) Of course, in that scenario Robert must first learn what a flat even is. Lol. In the midst of all that, some unsavory character tries to pull a big con on the Grantham crew, which sure seems like a looming disaster. But then they get rid of him by basically just saying “You get outta here” a la Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig. And then it’s time to go home, I guess.

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 New Eras

Katherine Parr and Henry VIII Square Off in the Elusive ‘Firebrand’

June 13, 2024

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

This queen is on Fire(brand)? (CREDIT: Larry Horricks)

Starring: Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Eddie Marsan, Ruby Bentall, Bryony Hannah, Sam Riley, Maia Jemmett, Amr Waked, Erin Doherty, Junia Rees, Patsy Ferran, Patrick Buckley, Simon Russell Beale, Mia Threapleton

Director: Karim Aïnouz

Running Time: 120 Minutes

Rating: R for Rowdy Royalty

Release Date: June 14, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Henry VIII is one of the most famous and dramatized kings in British history. That makes sense, as there’s plenty of drama to be mined. He had six wives who met a variety of interesting, often deadly, fates, and he reigned at a time when England was in the midst of world-rearranging religious strife. So there are a variety of potential angles to take if you’re going to make a movie set during his reign. Firebrand focuses on his last wife, Katherine Parr, who finds herself holding court in the midst of daily intrigue and sinister gossip. She ends up caught between her attempts to appease the king and her dalliances with a Protestant preacher who’s deemed a heretic, while also trying to serve as a mother as best she can to her fretful princely stepchildren.

What Made an Impression?: Parr for the Course: For this review, I’m basically going to do a performance analysis for the two leads, because that’s what held my attention. My bet is that most people’s exposure to Katherine in terms of pop culture (if they have any exposure at all) is the musical Six. But of course, that stage show is about all of Henry’s wives as opposed to just Katherine in particular. Either way, Alicia Vikander certainly doesn’t play her like a modern pop star. No, instead her Katherine is in a constant state of dilemma and anguish, fundamentally unable to please anyone she cares about, and with no room to maneuver to allow herself any personal satisfaction. She’s just canny enough to survive, but even that is largely attributable to a lucky twist of fate.
He’s Henry VIII, He Is?: Jude Law would be far from my first choice to play Henry VIII, as he strikes me as a bit too handsome and suave to play the famously rotund king. And in fact, when he first showed up in Firebrand, I had flashbacks to his time as The Young Pope, which had me thinking, “Is this Henry supposed to be… hot?” The rest of the movie quickly disabused me of that notion, as Law’s Henry is mad, brutish, and beset by ulcers. He’s quickly sliding into the grips of the Grim Reaper, and that’s frankly a relief to everyone around him. Law is appropriately devoid of vanity, but this Henry is simply too sick for there to be enough room to make him truly compelling.

Firebrand is Recommended If You’re: Just a big fan of Henry VIII’s wives

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Heresies

‘The Outfit’ is the Latest Evidence That Mark Rylance is Always a Cut Above

March 15, 2022

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

The Outfit (CREDIT: Nick Wall/Focus Features)

Starring: Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, Johnny Flynn, Simon Russell Beale, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Alan Mehdizadeh

Director: Graham Moore

Running Time: 106 Minutes

Rating: R for Turf Warfare and Mid-Century Profanity

Release Date: March 18, 2022 (Theaters)

Before watching The Outfit, I had no idea what the difference between a tailor and a cutter was. Actually, scratch that: before watching The Outfit, I had no idea that “cutter” was even the name of a profession. But now that a character played by Mark Rylance has told me what’s what, I won’t soon forget it. Basically, the gist is that whereas a tailor typically focuses on one particular article of clothing, a cutter can make adjustments to the entire ensemble. So that’s my biggest takeaway from this movie, and for that I’m quite grateful!

Rylance takes on the role of Leonard, a post-World War II transplant from London’s Savile Row who’s running a steady business in Chicago when we meet him. He left his bombed-out hometown to escape violence, but now he finds himself smack dab in the epicenter of gangster warfare. That’s right, the title of this flick refers to “outfit” in both senses of the term!

With that setup, this is more or less a how-to guide for how to survive amidst violence when you don’t have any interest in being loyal to either side. Leonard and his trusty assistant Mable (Zoey Deutch) both have the requisite amount of craftiness and self-reliance to keep themselves out of harm’s way just enough. By the time the credits are about to roll, there’s a very high probability that you’ll find yourself shouting, “That son of a gun was in control the whole time!” And hey, if you want somebody acting as a smooth operator in the middle of chaos, Mark Rylance is your guy!

Director Graham Moore (who also co-wrote the script with Johnathan McClain) keeps the action confined entirely to Leonard’s shop. You might call that a stagey decision (and honestly I’m surprised that this wasn’t based on a play), but the claustrophobia it conveys sure feels right. Besides, cinematographer Dick Pope always knows exactly where to direct our attention. And that tight confinement also makes it feel like we’re getting to know everyone better than we would have otherwise, which is especially appreciated when the cast includes the likes of Johnny Flynn and Teen Wolf vet Dylan O’Brien as the gangsters, which leads me to ponder, “Damn, these guys are now old enough to play career criminals?” Overall, it’s a nifty little construction, with every cut exactly where it’s meant to be.

The Outfit is Recommended If You Like: Crisp diction, secret pockets, acting showcases

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Cutters

This Is a Movie Review: The Death of Stalin

April 6, 2018

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CREDIT: IFC Films

When it comes right down to it, people are just people. This is the thought I have when watching the scene in The Death of Stalin in which a group of officials bumblingly drop the body of the dying Soviet Premier onto a bed. No matter how despotic things get, we are still beholden to our embarrassing physical realities. Alas, when the film starts to regularly show people shot in the head without a second thought, it is hard to remain Zen about the situation.

I saw Death of Stalin at the Alamo Drafthouse, and the pre-show programming included parts of the Monty Python’s Flying Circus episode “The Cycling Tour,” which features Michael Palin bungling his way into being the target of a Russian firing squad, who famously misfire at him from only a few feet away. As I prefer my gallows humor with plenty of goofiness, “The Cycling Tour” is definitely more comfort food for me than The Death of Stalin. That is not to say the latter is unsuccessful. I see what Armando Iannucci is doing, I acknowledge that he has met his goals, I laugh where I can, and then I move on, newly grateful that I live in a society that is not quite so dangerous as 1950s USSR.

I give The Death of Stalin 4 Impossible Promises out of 5 Buggings.