Movie Review: RICHARD JEWELL *** and 1\2 out of *****

Master filmmaker Clint Eastwood continues his series of films about underdogs and the wrongfully accused, with Richard Jewell (2019), a compelling, well-crafted drama about the eponymous character, a security guard during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, who was wrongfully accused of planting the bomb that injured dozens and killed two during the event.

Paul Walter Hauser portrays the character as a conscientious if eccentric man obsessed with American law enforcement, a man whose ultimate dream is to become a police officer. But due to his weight and laconic, childlike manner, people take him for granted, that is, till he finds himself suspect number one in a terrorist attack. Hauser, in his first starring role, is a wonder to behold, stealing the movie with his understated, touching portrayal of a well-meaning ne'er-do-well with passion to spare. And as the events surrounding his character grow more and more troubling, Hauser imbues Jewell with layer upon layer, subtly communicating a wealth of emotions with a look or a phrase. Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates (in one of the best performances of her career as Jewell's mother) deliver ample support, but this is Hauser's show.

For Eastwood, this is yet another understated triumph, another story of injustice well-told, although this time the true story's implications are more troubling than usual, with the damning portrayal of the media and the FBI and their reaction to the Atlanta bombing the stuff of nightmares. No wonder the movie received little if no love from the mass media. It is a "politically incorrect" film with a troubling message about how the American media builds up heroes to sell papers, and then viciously tears them down to sell more papers, destroying people's lives in the process, and how governments are glaringly fallible when it comes to dealing with acts of terrorism, focusing on knee-jerk, headline-grabbing actions in place of seeking the truth. In this day and age, this makes Richard Jewell a brave film about a brave man who dared do his job well and never lose faith in what he believed in.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon.

Movie Review: DOCTOR SLEEP (2019) *** out of *****

Making a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) was always a dicey proposition. How do you make a sequel to a film considered by many to be one of the best horror films of all-time, and directed by one of the most analyzed and revered filmmakers ever? It’s a daunting task, and one that is conceptually problematic as well. But in 2013, Stephen King, the author of the original novel on which The Shining was based, and the writer/producer of his own mini-series adaptation of the novel, released the long-awaited Doctor Sleep, a sequel focusing on the troubled life of Danny Torrance, the son of Jack, played by Jack Nicholson in the movie version.

But Doctor Sleep turned out to be one of King’s most underwhelming books and a huge disappointment to fans of the original novel, who expected something with more originality, atmosphere, and scares than what King ultimately delivered. In comes writer/director Mike Flangan, a talented but underachieving genre filmmaker whose credits include the bland Occulus (2013) and the terrific Gerald’s Game (2017), a muscular, haunting adaptation of one of King’s worst novels.

Many hoped that lightning would strike twice. Maybe Flanagan could do with Doctor Sleep what he managed to do so well with Gerlad’s Game? Alas, that didn't turn out to be the case. Doctor Sleep (2019), starring Ewan McGregor as the adult Danny Torrance, is a bloated, tremendously disappointing movie, more so because it contains some great visual ideas and some truly inspired deviations from the source material. But what brings the whole thing down are Flanagan’s approach and choices.

Over his career, Flanagan has shown a flair for atmosphere and visual storytelling. But he has also shown a lamentable penchant for a certain dour tone, an off-putting mix of sentimentality and aloofness, that rears its ugly head in almost everything he makes (Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House is a glaring case in point). In Doctor Sleep, this po-faced, elegiac tone makes the film a struggle to watch in one sitting, whether it is the theatrical version, or the 3 hour director’s cut released on home video. Dialogue scenes, never Flanagan’s strong point, go on forever and have a monotonous, repetitive quality, while the film’s pace is bumpy and distracting. Add to that that the villains, the weakest part of the novel, fare even worse here, with a terribly miscast Rebecca Ferguson delivering an annoying performance as Rose The Hat, a kind of succubus with a taste for children with psychic abilities. And then there’s the strange choice of focusing on the battle of wits between a child character called Abra and the villains, instead of on Danny Torrance’s struggle with his past and his inherited alcoholism, the strongest part of King’s book, which, in turn, gives Ewan McGregor very little of interest to play. Instead, he delivers a decent if forgettable performance that is so understated, it’s borderline mumblecore. Then there’s the climax, which tries to honor Kubrick’s original, King’s book, and Flanagan’s own vision of the story, with jarring results.

Still, Doctor Sleep has its merits, including a wonderful turn by the underrated Carl Lumbly as Dick Hallorann, filling in for the late Scatman Crothers. And although the movie is a misfire, it’s an interesting one, and is worth a watch for fans of King’s and Kubrick’s work.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Movie Review: RAMBO: LAST BLOOD (2019) *** OUT OF ****

Released to a vicious critical response and disappointing box-office receipts, Rambo: Last Blood (2019), the fifth, and some say last, entry in the Rambo franchise, is a challenging film.

For die-hard fans of the character who have followed the series for almost forty years, Rambo: Last Blood is not an easy pill to swallow, let alone for casual viewers who are just after a solid, old-school action movie. The John Rambo featured here is an ageing, barely functional ex-soldier, trying to keep it together and not let the PTSD get the better of him. He has a surrogate daughter in the grandchild of his family's housekeeper, and he seems to have settled down into a steady, if uneasy life. Then the girl is kidnapped, and Rambo's life takes a tragically dark turn.

Stallone, who co-produced and co-wrote, takes a huge risk with this film. It's a dark, violent, slow drama, with much less action than one would expect from this type of movie. But, ultimately, it's a hugely rewarding risk. Stallone, aided by a solid cast and steady if conventional direction by Adrian Grunberg, chooses to tell a story that no one, not even the fans, expected; a downward spiral into despair, rage, and loss. Yes, there's a satisfying final battle, with plenty of gun play and a high body count, but that's not what makes the ending pack a punch. It's the cost that Rambo has to pay for survival and revenge, which Stallone plays beautifully, using his age-ravaged, scarred, and blood-stained face to say things that can't be said with words, in one of the best performances of his career.

The final shot, and a post-credit scene, hint at what might lie ahead for Rambo. But if this is the last we see of the character, then I can honestly say that the series ends on a hard-hitting, haunting, and dignified note.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2019.

Watch the expanded video version of this post: