Film Review: Trumbo (2015)

Copyright: Bleecker Street

This movie is more about Bryan Cranston than it is about Dalton Trumbo, which is not necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, it is definitely not about Communism in any shape or form, even though it should be at least a bit. Instead, it is about how the US when through a dark period by learning their lessons, which they obviously (like any other super-power in the world) did not do.

Like many big films about a dodgy period in the US history, it slithers away from the slippery ground which might not go so well outside of the relatively liberal costliness of the country.

Here, in the mostly blood-red interior of the US, I bet that calling someone a �communist� is still a hard-hitting insult but also a social system that armed Christian Caucasian still fear deep down inside. 

The fact that the actual fall of communism in its basic form failed to stifle these fears is a great example of how much they are embedded in the conservative mindset. Trumbo caters to this fear way too much, to a point where its depiction of a man becomes irrelevant. As the film unfolds and presents a story about a man who took on the system, lost and kept on fighting, we are left wondering how much was actually Trumbo into communism in the first place.

I�m certain that the movie makers would argue that the whole point of the plot is that this is a personal matter, but it still dissects Trumbo�s personal sides. We are shown his addictions, crumbling friendships and strained family relationships, so it is not a question of respecting his privacy. But, when it comes to his political views, they are left in the dark, even when his support for a global socialist cause is compared to others. Arlen Hird, who is played by Louis C.K., is represented as a person with more left-leaning views, but Trumbo remains a mystery.

Sure, he wants workers� rights, less censorship and more freedom to fight for your paycheck, but all that remains in the domain of wishful thinking. The same would be if Cranston declared in the film as Trumbo that he wants �the people to live better�. This all might sound jaded on my part, but I feel this way because I�m certain that if the film declared that Trumbo really was a Communist, not just an almost accidental part of the Communist party at one point, a lot of the US audience wouldn�t emphasize with him. In fact, many would be more or less on the side of all the repressive elements of the film.

I believe this because I remember a single historical notion. As McCarthyism policy clearly stated, �the only good Communist is a dead Communist�. No matter how good or convincing Bryan Cranston, he still ends up as someone who is a great guy but definitely not a communist. Hell, in the end, how could a person be both of these things? That is why, in spite of his genuine message about censorship, it falls flat when it comes to its decency. Here, instead of presenting someone for whom he really was, the director Jay Roach and writer John McNamara appease the book-burners of the current world.

Film Review: Remember (2015)

Copyright: A24

The best way to describe Remember is to call it nauseating in a really mellow way. Atom Egoyan, its director, works really well with bland locations, where the depth of space is measured in meters that are in their single digits. Virtually all of the film, except its finale, takes place in rooms, basements, run-down houses and other places that are both enclosing and claustrophobic.

Here, in these spaces from where there is no room to escape, a simple plot unravels. Zev Guttman, played by Christopher Plummer, is a Jewish man gripped by late-stage Alzheimer�s, who mourns the death of his wife in their nursing home residence. But, Zev is soon reminded by Max, one of his friends about a promise he made: as a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, he will find an SS officer who stole the identity of a killed camp prisoner and immigrated to the US after the war. 

With his destroyed memory which practically restarts every time he falls asleep, Zev leaves the nursing home with a list of four names, knowing that one of them is the man who murdered his family in Auschwitz. On this journey, Egoyan works as if he is creating a senior version of Memento. Zev forgets and is easily disoriented, but his drive for justice keeps him pushing on, using a letter from his friend to guide him once he forgets everything.

The toned-down nature of Remember is employed to show the world which moved on and almost forgot about the unspeakable horror that took place behind the Nazi barbed wire. However, the oldest ones among us still remember vividly the places where hell became a physical, tangible thing and this movie delves head on into that feeling. Egoyan does not use any gimmick to push his point home: there are no flashback scenes, no grizzly stories about the events that took place in the barracks or the killing rooms. Instead, it is the state of Zev that tells the story of suffering and dismay right here and now, in the pleasant environment of the modern United States.

Plummer is excellent and very visceral in the presentation of his character, spurred on by the always great Martin Landau as Max. Here, the audience sees Zev who has almost lost everything stored in his mind while his body follows suit. But, in spite of this, his small hand purse holds a Glock and he is still, as his name says in Hebrew, a lion. And lions hunt, even when they are on their deathbed.

Remember is a film about growing old but not forgetting the things that matter, especially those that cannot be forgotten.

Web Series Review: Gaby�s Revenge (2016)

There aren�t many cinematographic forms better suited for small, independent productions than the neo-noir thriller genre. In the past couple of years, several brilliant films of this type were made, including the phenomenal Blue Ruin. Now, it seems that filmmakers are trying to use a similar setting and tone and move it to the domain of the online forms like web series.

Jonathan Vargas is one of these people and his new series called Gaby�s Revenge is aiming for a thriller vibe, produced using a limited budget. The first episode begins with the character of Gaby returning to her home, masked and armed.

Through a contact with her handler, the audience learns that Gaby works as a hitman (hitwoman?) but one who is particularly inept in completing jobs in a manner that is not, as the film states �a scene from a Quentin Tarantino movie�.

As the conversation unravels, the stage for the plot is set and defined. Amanda Ortega plays Gaby and does a good job by being really low-key and acting in, for a lack of a better word, normal way. It doesn�t take long for the Episode 1: Going to Vacation to connect with the viewers, using the phone conversation as a great character setup and Ortega didn�t miss it.

Here, however, the main problem of the first episode lies � setting the overall emotional tone of the series. Right at the beginning, the character of Gaby�s handler makes a few analogies, including, aside from Tarantino, things like the Call of Duty video games. At the same time, her mildly irritated tone and demeanor, similar to a frustrated boss who is disappointed with one of his less important workers, brings about additional confusion. This sequence, especially its beginning had the power to sabotage the entire setup because, for a long moment, the viewers are left wondering if the series is a parody of some kind, eerie similar to the director�s short feature Flying To Disney World.

Fortunately, Vargas manages to pull the story away from this unwanted path and set the course right at the last third of the episode. Here, the thriller segment is developed fully and it even includes a double murder. While the action part is not technically perfect, it does have the right vibe to it, allowing for the noir theme to be explored � instead of only hearing about Gaby�s profession, the audience gets to see her work.

Many independent works of art struggle with action segments because of completely understandable reasons and Vargas also tiptoed to the edge of looking a bit silly. But, thanks to his cinematographic eye and storyteller instinct, he ended up making it the best part of the episode. At the end, he further profits on the sequence by slowing it down with some greatly chosen music, giving the viewers a solid final sequence and also the biggest reason to keep watching.

Gaby�s Revenge might not come with the full force of a polished post-production, but it offers a promise of a tightly conceived story in the form of a web series. For this series to work, a darker tone might be needed, followed by the more introspective and subtle approach, similar to the one showed by Vargas on the closing shots of Episode 1.

Film Review: Black Mass (2015)

Making films about gangsters, especially real-life ones, can often turn into a quite a boar and Black Mass is an ideal example. The story revolves around a steady rise to fame of James 'Whitey' Bulger, a Boston kingpin in the 1970�s and 1980�s, mainly thanks to his connections with the FBI task force in the same city.

Directed by the talented Scott Cooper, who made the impressive Out of the Furnace before this film, Black Mass falls short of being either thrilling or compelling.

As if he was star-struck by Johnny Depp, who plays Whitey, Cooper seems to struggle whenever he is not in the frame. The film just adores Depp and his evil, vampire-like persona, but does not succeed in showing the audience why should they care about this pale-eyed monster.

Of course, Whitey is a despicable but smart criminal, but most movie kingpins are something similar. He manipulates, terrifies, injures and kills his way out of any situation, but remains uninteresting as a character. What drives Whitey and what scares him? Cooper and his writing team seem to be as clueless about this as I am and it reflects in the film throughout.

The only kindling of interests this movie has to offer burns in FBI agent John Connolly, played by the spectacular Joel Edgerton. Here, a transformation can be witnessed by the audience, but it is still eclipsed by the face of Whitey, who always hovers over all other people in the film. The role is masterfully played, but the film doesn't know what to do with it inside of the bigger picture. This mistake dulled the film substantially and turned it into a TV documentary about an appalling man from Boston�s Southey.

Even thought it is a Depp-worshiping film, it cannot be called a disaster because it looks good from a visual standpoint (a new pattern of a fascination with the late 70�s can be seen here). But, A Most Violent Year develops a similar storyline in a similar environment but pulls it off it with a lot more tact and immersions. I�m sure that Black Mass does a lot of justice to the real events and people, but a rude question begs to be asked � who cares about the real James Bulger?