Bad Day at Black Rock: A Review (Review #2218)

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK

What secrets lay buried out in the desert? A lot can happen in one day. Bad Day at Black Rock delves into the underbelly of a small town that will do anything to keep its shameful past hidden. 

The sleepy, small town of Black Rock, California has not had a visitor in four years. Today, though, a stranger comes to town. He is John J. McCready (Spencer Tracy). Who is this one-armed man? Why is he here? No one stops at Black Rock on purpose.

McCready, however, does have a purpose. He is there looking for a man named Komoko. The local men all look on McCready with a mixture of contempt and fear. Local kingpin Reno Smith (Robert Ryan) wants everyone in town to stay silent about Komoko. What secret does Smith want hidden about Komoko? 

Everyone is openly hostile to McCready. Hotel clerk Peter Wirth (John Ericson) attempts to not give McCready a room. Local muscle Hector David (Lee Marvin) tries to intimidate the one-armed man. Weak-willed Sheriff Tim Horn (Dean Jagger) is little help in finding Komoko, let along providing information. Local veterinarian Doc Velie (Walter Brennan) is more sympathetic but has a simple warning for McCready: get out of town. Coley Trimble (Ernest Borgnine) 

McCready, however, is not easily intimidated. He pushes Peter's sister Liz (Anne Francis) to rent out a jeep to visit nearby Adobe Flat. McCready finds a burned-out home and wildflowers, which grow on graves. McCready is a World War II veteran who lost his arm in the Italian campaign. That, curiously, is connected to why he is at Black Rock. The men save for Horn and Velie are determined to keep buried whatever, and whomever, lies out in Adobe Flat. 

As the day goes on, the danger grows. Trimble tries to knock McCready out. Surprisingly, a one-armed man with some karate can knock out thugs. McCready finds himself frustrated in his efforts to reach authorities to come to Black Rock. As the day goes on, we learn McCready's tragic connection to Komoko and Komoko's ultimate fate after December 7, 1941. Not everyone will live to see another Bad Day at Black Rock, but there is still hope for this forsaken town.

Bad Day at Black Rock runs a surprisingly short 81 minutes. In that brief runtime though, the film gives the viewer a full and rich story. The mystery around Black Rock and McCready's appearance (both in town and physically) are slowly revealed. Director John Sturges keeps things flowing smoothly. He also maintains the tension and menace thanks to the isolation. Throughout Bad Day at Black Rock, the film maintains a quiet and sometimes not quiet sense of menace and danger.

We know that the men in town are hiding something. We also know that McCreedy's presence should be cause for alarm among the men. That sense of tension and mystery build up the film. We wonder what will happen. We wonder whether McCready will live out the day. Those elements build up Bad Day at Black Rock as the film delves deeper into the mystery.

The film also has standout performances from the cast. A very good case can be mounted that Spencer Tracy is too old for the part of the grizzled detective/war veteran. Today, I imagine, the fact that a non-disabled man playing a one-armed man would not be met with acclaim but condemnation. This cannot be helped. McCready's lost arm is an important element of the character. It is a credit to Tracy and Sturges that one barely notices how McCready is missing an arm.

Tracy builds up McCready with a mix of confidence and moral righteousness. This is not a self-righteous performance. McCready as played by Tracy is not someone who looks down on Black Rock residents. Instead, Tracy makes McCready into someone motivated by paying a debt and finding impediments every step of the way. There is something rotten in the town of Black Rock, and McCready will get to the bottom of it no matter what.

Robert Ryan has a brilliant performance as Reno Smith. Smith is a rotten man, bigoted, angry and suspicious. He holds power over everyone in town. However, we do not see Reno Smith as a ranting, raving loon. Instead, his power comes from a mostly quiet manner. Smith's menace comes from his control. This is a man not only used to controlling everyone but not used to having anyone question him. Ruthless in controlling his small fiefdom, this Black Rock kingpin will have no one try to usurp his power. Smith's control is such that he can overthrow the weak-willed sheriff with no objection. Ryan plays Smith as efficient and ruthless.

The other actors also do excellent work. Walter Brennan is moving as Doc Velie, the closest thing that Black Rock has to a man of conscience. He and Tracy have a wonderful scene together at Doc's clinic, where he is warned to get out. Dean Jagger also does well as Sheriff Horn, a man who is a paper tiger, but who attempts to make good on his duties. Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin were strong as the muscle bent on using brute force against anyone questioning Reno Smith. Anne Frances' Liz is curiously the only woman in the cast. She did well as someone caught in the middle of this new war.

Bad Day at Black Rock has an excellent Andre Previn score. The film also has strong cinematography, capturing the wide desert which builds up menace. Granted, the rear-screen projections at times do look clunky. However, that is a minor point. I do wonder though if a line in Millard Kaufman's adaptation of Howard Breslin's short story Bad Day at Hondo was meant as a pun. As McGready exited the train, someone said, "You look like you need a hand". Again, whether it was meant as a sincere offer to help or a comment about his lost arm, I am not sure.

Bad Day at Black Rock holds your attention throughout its runtime. Excellent performances and an engaging story elevate it to being a standout film. 

DECISION: A-

The Velvet Touch: A Review

THE VELVET TOUCH

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Rosalind Russell.

People may die for their art, but would they murder for it? The Velvet Touch is a surprisingly solid murder mystery despite knowing whodunit in the beginning. 

Valerie Stanton (Rosalind Russell) is the Queen of Broadway. Her newest comedy, Escapade, has been another roaring success. On this closing night, however, it is curtains for more than just the show. Val has learned to her rage that her Svengali, Gordon Dunning (Leon Ames) has no plans to let Valerie go either professionally or personally. An argument ensues between them, culminating in Val whacking Gordon on the head with a trophy. Shocked and slightly dazed by her act, Valerie manages to slip out of the theater unobserved. Unaware of anything that has happened, her fellow Escapade actress Marion Webster (Claire Trevor) finds Gordon's lifeless body and also goes into shock.

At home, she dreams in an extended flashback on how all this came to happen. Valerie had been Gordon's professional and personal muse. She starred in all the comedies that he produced. Gordon had dumped Marion Webster for Val, making the professional and personal rivals. Now, two new opportunities had come to Valerie. The first was an offer to appear in Hedda Gabler. Valerie itches for the chance to play drama versus the successful but lightweight comedies she specializes in. The second is Michael Morrell (Leo Genn). He is a dashing British architect who is enchanted by Valerie. She in turn is enchanted by Michael.

No dice, however, from Gordon. He plants a story with bitchy theater columnist Jeff Trent (Dan Tobin) that she has agreed to be in Gordon's newest comedy and not Hedda Gabler. Enraged, she demands that he retract the story. Nothing doing, and in their tussle, she accidentally murders him. Now, the story of Gordon's murder breaks. She is convinced that she will be quickly found. 

However, a twist of fate coupled with Marion Webster being found alongside the body shifts focus onto Valerie's love rival. Captain Danberry (Sydney Greenstreet) is a shadow around Valerie, but he too starts turning towards Marion Webster as the murderess. Could Valerie find herself literally getting away with murder? She does feel guilty. Marion Webster accuses her privately of murder. However, Marion Webster ends herself, leaving everyone in little doubt that she is the guilty party. Now, Valerie Stanton may at last shift from comedienne to tragedy queen. She may have a husband. Even theater-mad Captain Danberry seems satisfied that the case is closed. Is it though? Will Valerie keep her secret shame or crack?

After watching The Velvet Touch, I was reminded of a few films that both preceded and came after it. The first is Mourning Becomes Electra. That film was meant to showcase Rosalind Russell as a dramatic actress. That lurid story did earn her a Best Actress nomination. Unfortunately, it was such a critical and commercial disaster that Loretta Young in The Farmer's Daughter ended up winning. In a curious way, The Velvet Touch seems to mirror Russell's own artistic aspirations.  Like Valerie Stanton, Russell was seen primarily as a brilliant comic actress who wanted to show that she had versatility. I think that had Russell and her team not focused so much on the lumbering Eugene O'Neill adaptation that is Mourning Becomes Electra, Russell could have legitimate earned a Best Actress nomination for The Velvet Touch. 

Here, Russell showed that she could do drama and comedy remarkably well. The Velvet Touch has nice comedic moments. Of particular note is when she is at a dinner party where her more rapid-fire delivery and eager-to-please manner brought an amusing touch. In that scene, she compliments a writer for his newest work, oblivious to his hesitancy in accepting the praise. It is not until someone tells her that she has been speaking to the book's publisher and not author that she shows a slightly manic manner reminiscent of yet another film, Auntie Mame. 

Russell could also show strong dramatic manner. We see this when she is shown performing Hedda Gabler or when confronting Marion Webster. I figure that director Jack Gage could not completely break Russell of a habit of widening her eyes when expressing drama. I, however, put that down to the intense theatrics that Mourning Becomes Electra mistook as great drama versus unintended comedy. The scene where she learns of Marion Webster's suicide is an especially strong piece of acting. It is not overdone but not restrained either.

The Leo Rosten screenplay does have some surprising moments of humor. They almost always come at Sydney Greenstreet's willing expense. He first appears to the Escapade cast and crew to start his investigation. As he slowly starts to sit, his physicality suggests that he expects that his girth will cause the chair to collapse. Later on, Danberry is hounded by reporters. "Looks like a big case," one of them says. Looking somewhat serious, Danberry snaps back, "Don't get personal!", pauses, then starts laughing. 

The other film that The Velvet Touch reminds me of is All About Eve. Both are set in the theater world. Both have divas who are looking for love. Both have secondary actresses who work against said divas. Both have a pretty bitchy theater columnist who delights in his maliciousness. Both even have a hard, shrewd theater figure. The parallel between Thelma Ritter's Birdie in All About Eve and Esther Howard's Pansy in The Velvet Touch is not an exact parallel. Pansy hangs around the stage door, giving the cast and fans the latest reviews and reports. However, one can see how these two films could fit in a metaphorical double bill.

Rosalind Russell gives a strong performance as the guilt-ridden Valerie. Despite Claire Trevor's Marion Webster's protests, I think Valerie did have a sense of guilt over murdering Gordon. She clearly did not intent to do so. However, The Velvet Touch is not about the crime itself. We know from the get-go that Valerie is the murderess. Instead, the film is about a bigger mystery: whether or not she will get away with it. Almost all the performances are strong.

The aforementioned Greenstreet brings a lightness to things. He is not a fool, able to use his powers of deduction to a proper albeit incorrect conclusion. We also see Greenstreet showing a caring side, comforting Valerie when she learns the shocking news. A surprise is seeing Leon Ames as the villainous Gordon Dunning. Ames usually played well-meaning and caring fathers. Here, he is arrogant, selfish and possessive. It is Ames that one is impressed with most. The paterfamilias of Meet Me in St. Louis showed himself a manipulative figure. You did not mind that he got done in. 

Dan Tobin also did well in his small role as the fussy Jeff Trent. I would put two performers on the lower end. The first is Claire Trevor as Marion Webster. She was not terrible. Trevor had a good moment when she meets with Gordon as part of a plan to help her now-frenemy take Michael while she gets Gordon back. However, her final scene where she is coming in and out of her hysteria when confronting Valerie might have been a bit much.

The wettest blanket was Leo Genn as Michael Morrill. Why anyone would want this man, especially with his long nose, I cannot guess at. He and his character were both bland and boring.

A particular poor element in The Velvet Touch involves Marion Webster. It is not the character herself. It is her name. One cannot be faulted for wondering why "Merriam Webster" was so important. It did not help that she was routinely called "Marion Webster". Why anyone involved in The Velvet Touch thought that the character's name might not elicit laughter or at least bemusement I also cannot guess at. Let us say that the name choice was in the long run, a curious one.

The Velvet Touch also has a surprising element in a lovely theme song. It is lush and romantic. It might be slightly at odds with the plot. However, it is a nice romantic number. 

If one wants to see Rosalind Russell show her dramatic range, it would be better to watch The Velvet Touch over Mourning Becomes Electra. We know whodunit. We watch to see if she will get caught or get away. How it turns out requires watching, which I think will be worth the time to do so. 

DECISION: B+

Dead of Winter (2025): A Review (Review #2185)

DEAD OF WINTER (2025)

When I first saw Dead of Winter, I thought that it might have made for a good short film but not that great for a feature film. Upon a second viewing, I think Dead of Winter makes for a good feature film. Strong performances and a smoothly flowing story make Dead of Winter a well-crafted film that is better than I initially remembered. 

Barb Lunquist (Emma Thompson) is driving to a remote Minnesota lake. It is winter here, but Barb has a mission that reveals itself in a series of flashbacks. A quick blizzard gets her a bit lost. The memories of her long love affair with Karl also distract her.

Barb comes upon a remote cabin and is concerned with some blood that she sees in the snow. The remote mountain man in the Camo Jacket (Marc Menchaca) quickly tells her where the lake she's looking for is and tells her that the blood is from an animal. Barb might not be convinced but won't get further involved. 

Things take a sudden turn when Barb does arrive at the frozen lake and begins ice fishing. She struggles with her memories of Karl. Even in her grief, however, she cannot ignore how Camo Jacket is chasing after a young girl whose arms are tied. Camo Jacket, oblivious to everything save this girl, doesn't see that he was watched. Barb now has to do something. 

Barb now finds this hostage at Camo Jacket's cabin. She assures the young girl that she will not abandon her but will get help. She also sees Purple Lady (Judy Greer), the brains behind the kidnapping. It becomes a cat-and-mouse game between Barb and Purple Lady/Camo Jacket (the former wearing a large purple parka). Each gets the upper hand from time to time, but time is running out for all concerned.

Why is the young girl named Leah (Laurel Marsden) being held prisoner? Purple Lady plans to harvest Leah's liver to save her own life. Others both directly and not directly involved in Purple Lady's deranged scheme will not live to tell their tale. The battle to save Leah will culminate at that frozen lake. Here, the Widow Lundquist will fulfill her late husband's final wish with his ashes, but who will live and who will die?

After initially seeing Dead of Winter with my family as a "mystery movie", our consensus was that it was not very good. After seeing it a second time, I thought better of the film. I think we were displeased with the dour nature and bleak ending. Dead of Winter is still a downer of a film. It also has those flashbacks between the young Barb Sorensen (Gaia Wise) and young Karl Lunquist (Cuan Hosty-Blaney) pop in more times than I think necessary. 

That being said, I appreciated more in Dead of Winter than the first time that I saw it. At the top of that list is Emma Thompson's performance. On both a technical and emotional level, Thompson does very well in the role of Barb. She maintains a solid American Midwest accent that would not be out of place in Fargo. She makes Barb into the embodiment of "Minnesota nice", with her not even cursing beyond a "heck" or "darn". I think that maybe she did use foul language once, but that was probably the extend of her vocal vulgarity.

Her performance works well throughout. She can express Barb's loss and emotional despair with just a glance. She can also show strength and common sense when having to comfort Leah or face off against Purple Lady. She even blends both when dealing with Camo Jacket, whom we discover is Purple Lady's henpecked husband.

Judy Greer is also quite strong as Purple Lady. She is villainous. However, we also see Purple Lady's desperation in doing all that she can to survive. Marc Menchaca is in turns frightening and sympathetic as Camo Jacket. He is as he says he is, which is not a bad man. He is just a very weak man. Laurel Marsden does well as the frightened Leah, desperate to live despite her own past troubles.

Credit should be given to director Brian Kirk for guiding his actors to strong performances. He also kept things flowing mostly well given that Dead of Winter is only 98 minutes long. Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb's screenplay also gives us a good deal of the various characters' backstories without it being forced. Again, I could argue that Barb's flashbacks do pop up a bit more than necessary. Still, that Dead of Winter did not slip into farce is a credit to everyone involved.

I think that Dead of Winter is a good albeit downbeat film. It is in some ways as sparse as the Minnesota winter it is set in. That downbeat manner might put some people off. It did my family when we first saw it. Overall, though, I think Dead of Winter is a strong but bleak film that should be given a chance. 

DECISION: B+

Tuner: A Review

TUNER

One might be surprised to see an action film where the lead is a piano tuner. However, that is exactly what one will get in Tuner. Never overstaying its welcome, Tuner has solid performances and an engaging story that should entertain viewers.

Niki White (Leo Woodall) was once a highly talented pianist. He was forced to withdraw from this, however, due to his growing hyperacusis. He now works as a piano tuner apprentice to friend and jazz aficionado Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman). Niki enjoys Harry's company as well as that of Harry's wife Marla (Tovah Feldshuh). Harry, who is becoming more forgetful, changed his safe's combination and cannot remember to what. Niki offers to help find the new combination through studying how to open safes and his own unique hearing issues.

He is surprised to find himself a solid safecracker. He also finds himself at first irritated by Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu). She is an aspiring pianist and composer who is irritated that her practice time is being swallowed up by Niki's tuning. However, she is impressed at how Niki can identify the various notes and keys with ease. Harry attempts to play matchmaker between Ruthie and Niki, but no dice from either.

Harry has a health scare requiring hospitalization. This puts Niki solely in charge of a new job at a charity event. Niki is forced to work late and encounters a trio of thieves attempting to break into a safe. In exchange for leaving him to work in total silence, Niki cracks open the safe. Ringleader Uri (Lior Raz) is impressed by Niki's mad skills. He offers Niki work as a safecracker. Owing to Harry's continuing hospital bills and potential loss of his business, Niki eventually accepts.

Niki now leads a double life. He and Ruthie do eventually begin a romance. He also becomes adept at safecracking. This delights Uri, his partner in crime Yoni (Gil Cohen) and Uri's idiot nephew Benny (Nissan Sakira) who begin finding booming business breaking into various homes.

Things come to a head though when Niki is brought in for a new job involving Koreans wanting the codes to a cryptocurrency account. He does manage the job, but the Korean's uncle arrives unexpectedly. This leads to a chain of events that put everyone's lives in danger. Will Niki keep Ruthie safe? Will a previous heist end up costing Niki his freedom? Marius Maissner (Jean Reno), who is Ruthie's idol and potential mentor, is astonished to find his grandmother's Holocaust watch on her wrist. Will Niki be able to get his grandfather's Holocaust watch back from the Israeli criminal gang? Will everyone survive? 

Tuner works thanks to the performances. Leo Woodall continues building up his career with his performance as Niki. This is a decent man who made a terrible pact due to circumstances. What impressed me greatly about Woodall's performance is how sometimes he is quite still. He does not rage or show anger when, for example, Ruthie seems initially dismissive of his ability to hear the correct chords. Instead, Woodall shows Niki to be slightly frustrated that he is being questioned. He covers all the emotional beats correctly.

In her smaller role, Tovah Feldshuv does well as Martha, Harry's loving and supportive albeit at times frustrated wife. Leo Raz's Uri keeps to a menacing villain, though he is not a cartoonish villain. Instead, Uri is almost pleasant when he needs to be. Dustin Hoffman has little to do but look befuddled. That is, in fairness, his character. 

The weak link was Havana Rose Liu as Ruthie. It was not a bad performance. It was just not a great one. Sometimes it did look as if she was trying too hard to be concerned or upset. I did not hate Liu as Ruthie. I just did not love her either.

Director and cowriter Daniel Roher (writing with Robert Ramsey) did well in keeping things flowing. One could quibble on how the tie-in between the watch and Maestro Maissner was a bit too coincidental. It is one of those "something will happen if the plot requires it to" moments. Again, it is not a dealbreaker. It is, however, a bit too much to believe. 

Overall, though, Tuner works for what it is: a combination of heist and character study. The film is entertaining, well-paced and well-acted. I think viewers will enjoy the sights and sounds of Tuner. 

DECISION: B-

Reversal of Fortune: A Review (Review #2160)

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

It is said that with great power comes great responsibility. Perhaps with great wealth comes great irresponsibility. Reversal of Fortune has everything that a filmgoer could want when it comes to true-life crime stories. There is sex. There is wealth. There is a sinister suspect. With excellent performances and a sly tone, Reversal of Fortune chronicles its lurid story well.

Our story is told primarily in voiceover from the victim herself. Sunny von Bulow (Glenn Close) is a persistent vegetative state. She fell into this sorry state after falling into a coma due to a diabetic shock close to Christmas, 1980. What makes this all the more curious is that this was her second coma. The first was almost a year earlier, but she had recovered. Now, however, there is no way back for our socialite.

Sunny's husband Claus von Bulow (Jeremy Irons) had been slow in getting his wife needed medical attention on both occasions. He had a mistress, soap opera actress Alexandra Isles (Julie Hagerty). He also stood to inherit a great deal of money upon Sunny's death. Could Claus have attempted to murder Sunny not once but twice? He did not get away with it as Sunny managed technically surviving both comas. However, Claus was convicted of attempted murder.

Into this comes crusading Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver). Claus contacts Dershowitz to help him with his appeal. He took the advice of his newest companion, Andrea Reynolds (Christine Baranski) to "get the Jew". Alan has no interest in the von Bulow case. He does have an interest in the $300 an hour that von Bulow can pay, which Dershowitz will use to help two black teens on death row. Dershowitz soon starts looking into what should be an open-and-shut case. However, is it as open-and-shut as it appears?

Alan and his team of students soon think that Claus von Bulow is being set up. His stepchildren Alexander (Jad Mager) and Ala (Sarah Fearon), along with Sunny's loyal maid Maria (Uta Hagen) all openly detest Claus. Their own attorney had taken copious notes from them, notes that he never shared with Claus' original defense. There is also a published interview with Truman Capote who claimed that Sunny was taking drugs. Could she have injected herself? Could it have been a botched suicide attempt? 

There is also the shady David Marriot (Fisher Stevens). Marriot admits to being a drug pusher but also says that he was a drug mule for Alexander. Could he be a help or hindrance in this case? Everyone is against Claus. Only Claus and Sunny's daughter Cosima (Kristi Hundt) has stayed loyal. 

Claus finally tells his side of the story to Dershowitz and his team. It is of an unhappy wife who ignored medical advice about her hypoglycemia. Could Claus actually be innocent? Alan starts believing it so. There is at least room for doubt. However, will it be enough to reverse Claus' fortune?

Reversal of Fortune has a cold, wry and efficient manner. Those qualities work so well in the film. The three elements that lift Reversal of Fortune to being such a good film were all recognized with Oscar nominations. 

Director Barbet Schroeder received a Best Director nomination. It was well-earned. Reversal of Fortune has a strong pace and excellent performances. From the beginning when we hear Mark Isham's elegant and sophisticated but menacing score, we know that Reversal of Fortune is telling us a dark story beneath its elegant veneer. 

Schroeder balances the past and present with subtle hints. When we are with the comatose Sunny, the film is dominated with blue cinematography. This suggests Sunny's eternal twilight, where she is aware but powerless. He also draws strong performances out of his cast. Glenn Close's performance consists almost entirely of voiceover. It is close to 45 minutes before we see Close not narrating but in the role. She made Sunny into tragic figure, brittle and lost. 

A standout performance is that of Fisher Stevens as the shady David Marriott. He is appropriately sleazy and amoral. He, however, also makes him oddly compelling, like a con man who does not hide that he is a con man.   

Nicholas Kazan's Oscar-nominated screenplay adaptation of Professor Alan Dershowitz's book has an interesting take in metaphorically giving the comatose Sunny a voice in her story. In a nine-minute opening narration Sunny gives us a recap of her case. Glenn Close's delivery is soft, elegant and matter of fact. Sunny's narration has a drop of arsenic, as if hiding her fury within an icy delivery. 

"I never woke from this coma, and I never will" she tells us. "I am what doctors call "persistent vegetative". A vegetable. According to medical experts, I could stay that way for a very long time. Brain dead, body better than ever". 

We go back to Sunny in that sorry state every so often. Of particular note is when we see her getting a massage in the hospital while she discusses her past. It is a dark commentary on how the once idle rich now are in this physically weakened condition. 

Kazan's dark wit continues with the third element to be recognized by the Academy. Unlike Kazan's script or Schroeder's directing, Jeremy Irons won Best Actor for his icy, sarcastic Claus von Bulow. He makes von Bulow's patrician, aristocratic air almost farcical but in a good way. Irons' Claus is a man surprisingly and simultaneously self-aware but clueless. For example, he attempts to integrate himself with Dershowitz's students by making what he thinks are delightful puns.

"What do you give a wife who has everything?", he tells them. After a silent beat, von Bulow replies, "An injection of insulin". Claus then follows that quip with another stab at humor. "How do you define a fear of insulin?". After another silent beat, Claus von Bulow deadpans, "Claus-traphobia". The lines are groan-inducing. However, it is Irons' performance that shows this man is basically not human. 

He does not speak these lines in an avuncular manner. There is not a drip of sarcasm or even a sincere effort at lightening the mood. Instead, Irons delivers all his dialogue with this curious assurance that is eerie, bizarre but endlessly fascinating. Irons never rages as Claus von Bulow. He never seems to express any true and authentic emotions. That is what makes Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune so good. He makes Claus into this enigma, a figure who is unaware of how he comes across. The closest that von Bulow comes to acknowledging his eccentric manner is after another meeting with Dershowitz. "You are a strange man," the law professor tells him. "You have no idea," Irons' von Bulow icily replies.

I would be remiss if I did not mention Ron Silver's turn as Professor Alan Dershowitz. He makes Professor Dershowitz into a moral crusader who is also a shrewd mind. He endures the elites thinly veiled antisemitism. He argues with his students. Yet, Silver never makes Dershowitz into a fool or an idiot. He has a moral core. In fact, it is that moral core that gets him to hitch his wagon to the odd Claus von Bulow. When he is successful in getting a new trial that will ultimately acquit von Bulow, he tells him that it is a legal victory but that morally, von Bulow is on his own.

Despite this long, strange trip, Alan Dershowitz never cracked who Claus von Bulow was. It appears that he ended up not wanting to know.

Reversal of Fortune has the aforementioned Mark Isham score, elegant but sinister. It is a perfect reflection of the story and its characters. It flows well and never has its flashbacks jar the viewer. 

Reversal of Fortune is a dark and elegant story of justice delayed and perhaps denied. The film did a good thing in bringing Sunny back from time to time. So often, the victims or alleged victims are forgotten. Here, she was not. She was even allowed a chance to speak in a way, something the real Sunny would not be able to do for the last 28 years of her life. 

Legally, Claus von Bulow died an innocent man. However, there is still room for doubt. The film ends with Claus at the unlikeliest place: a corner convenience store. He buys some cigarettes and observes that the cashier recognizes him from the tabloids next to him. "Anything else?", she asks, somewhat frightened. "Yes. A vial of insulin", he replies. Smiling in a curious manner, he adds, "Just kidding" and winks at her. Whether Claus von Bulow ultimately got away with his crimes we may never know. We do know that his fortunes, once apparently doomed, were reversed in his favor.

Claus von Bulow: 1926-2019

Martha "Sunny" von Bulow: 1931-2008

DECISION: B+

Crime 101: A Review

CRIME 101

Crime 101 might mislead people into thinking that it is more action-packed than it ultimately is. 

Gentleman jewelry thief Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth) has everything in his heists planned to the millisecond. He takes care never to harm anyone and leave no physical evidence, including DNA. His latest heist where he robs two men transporting a cache of diamonds has a near-miss when one of them pulls a gun and grazes Davis. He tells his fence Money (Nick Nolte) that he won't be pulling another heist, probably to recover from the shock of his near-miss.

Money appears to go along with that. However, he opts to bring in Ormon (Barry Keoghan), a young and reckless up-and-coming thief, to pull the aborted heist. Ormon is volatile, angry and undisciplined. He also harms people in the robbery. This puts a damper on a longstanding theory from Detective Lou (Mark Ruffalo). While the rest of the LAPD dismisses his idea, Lou is convinced that various thefts are from one person. The physical assault in the latest heist does not fit the pattern.

Something that does not fit the pattern is how insurance broker Sharon (Halle Berry) keeps getting pushed aside by her employer for others, mostly men, who have less experience and time with the company. Her latest efforts to land a big client, shady billionaire Monroe (Tate Donavan) are floundering. Davis hires someone to find information on Sharon, whom he thinks can help him in one last heist. He also is starting to see Maya (Monica Barbaro) who ran into the back of his car. 

The various threads connecting Lou, Sharon, Mike and Ormon all meet at the lavish wedding Monroe has set up for himself. He will give the wedding guests expensive watches and diamonds. He will also have millions of dollars in ready cash. Various disguises and deceptions take place for everyone to get into Monroe's hotel room. Who will make it out alive? Who will get ahead of everyone else?

Crime 101 runs a very lengthy two hours and twenty minutes. This is surprising in that Crime 101 is based on a novella by Don Winslow. One would think that a novella would not have so much material as to require something of this length. I wonder, never having read the Winslow novella, if screenwriter/director Don Layton added more to the final product. 

I think that Crime 101 might have benefitted from shortening the runtime. The subplots of Davis' romance and Lou's marriage troubles might have been trimmed. I would not necessarily advocate to remove them entirely. After all, Lou met Sharon through the yoga class, which he would not have taken up had he not been forced to move out. However, we also had a surprisingly long section where Lou's fellow cops faked the presence of a gun to justify a fellow officer shooting a jewel thief. We also had long scenes involving Sharon and Monroe, Sharon and Davis, Davis and Money, Davis and Ormon and so on.

I think one of my big issues with Crime 101 is that most scenes went on too long. I understand what Crime 101 was going for. It seemed to want to bring in elements of Pulp Fiction, Drive and Heat into it. The film is not entirely unsuccessful in that endeavor. It just seemed to me that far too many scenes dragged. 

Here is one of the complaints about Crime 101 has merit. I think there were people who thought that Crime 101 would have more action. This is a fair idea given that Crime 101 involves jewel theft. However, I think a lot of Crime 101 felt a bit more cerebral and philosophical. That is not necessarily, again, a bad thing. It just felt as if it were slightly out of place in a movie that could have used a bit more action.

Crime 101 is filled with talented performers. They did mostly well. The continuing efforts to push Chris Hemsworth as an actor or action star continue to meet resistance. One has to give Hemsworth credit in that here his Australian accent was not as prominent as it usually is. Perhaps he has been in the United States long enough to pick up how American English sounds and attempt a good approximation. One could still pick up a bit of his native Aussie tones, however. It makes Mike's backstory a bit hard to accept. 

I will have to give him credit in that Hemsworth is playing slightly against type. Davis is not a man of action. He is more a man of thought, someone who is methodical and mostly calm in his various heists. When he is not calm, he is often more agitated than angry. 

That agitation is handled by Barry Keoghan as the live-wire Ormon. I think Keoghan went slightly overboard in showing Orman to be a loose cannon. There seemed to be something exaggerated, almost cartoonish, about his efforts to play tough and crazed. Keoghan came across as someone trying too hard to play crazed, intense and dangerous. He might have done better trying to play Lou, though it would make it look odder. Ruffalo was a standout as Lou, weary but dogged. He was somewhere in the middle of Hemsworth's cool detachment and Keoghan's wild intensity. Halle Berry too was in good form as Sharon. This is a woman who struggles against the sexism and ageism around her. This motivates, in part, her actions. You can see the frustration of waiting for a promotion to partner that she accepts will not be forthcoming.

Monica Barbaro as Mike's love interest and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lou's estranged wife Angie seemed lost in the shuffle. They are more plot devices than characters. I will give them credit in that they did what they could. I figure Nick Nolte could have been a bigger part of things. However, I think he was there for two to three scenes and always felt as if he were in an earlier draft that got put into the final film. 

Crime 101 has a Michael Mann feel with its cool California manner and visual style. I was reminded of Manhunter while watching drive (minus the serial killer). The focus on the city streets and Blanck Mass' electronic score also add to the sense that Crime 101 drew inspiration from Mann's body of work. 

Crime 101 was not bad. It could have been better if it were shorter. It is a bit slow, which weakened the film to me. I was reminded of George Lucas' primary direction on Star Wars. Crime 101 would have done better had it been "faster and more intense".

DECISION: C+

I Want to Live! A Review (Review #2120)

I WANT TO LIVE!

True crime meets true tragedy in I Want to Live! Blending film noir with a documentary manner, I Want to Live! gives us a sympathetic portrait of a mostly unsympathetic figure.

Barbara Wood (Susan Hayward) is a good-time girl who loves the men and the jazz. This jazz baby is also a longtime criminal. She drinks, dances, flirts and presumably more than flirts through life. Her BFF Peggy (Virginia Vincent) cuts out after two mutual friends ask Peg and Babs to provide false alibis. Barbara, for her part, agrees to lie for them and ends up locked up for perjury. 

After her prison term, Barbara tries to go straight. She marries Hank Graham (Wesley Lau) and has a child, Bobby. However, Hank is a junkie who even slaps Barbara around when she refuses to turn over their last $10 so he can get a fix. She then goes back to petty crime to keep body and soul together. Her old criminal partner Emmett Perkins (Philip Coolidge) welcomes her back with open arms. His associate John Santo (Lou Krugman) is thoroughly antagonist and openly hates baby Bobby. 

Things go wildly wrong after their latest heist. Barbara was the getaway car driver of a robbery. However, an elderly crippled widow, Mable Monahan, was murdered. The police have tagged Perkins, Santo and Graham for the crime. Barbara, initially unaware of the murder, plays up her image as "Bloody Babs: The Tiger Woman". She finds the whole thing just the latest in her defiant run-ins with the law.

All this makes great headlines for San Francisco newspaperman Ed Montgomery (Simon Oakland). It is not until after she realizes that murder was the case that they gave her that Barbara panics; horrified by the charge, Barbara foolishly attempts to get a false alibi as Hank is nowhere to be found. To her horror and disappointment, she finds that her supposed alibi is really officer Ben Miranda (Peter Breck). Her past dooms her to be found guilty. The press attention also plays a role in dooming the so-called Queen of the Murder Mob, along with Perkins and Santo, to be sentenced to death.

Montgomery soon begins having doubts about Graham's guilt. She was involved in the Monahan robbery. However, was she the actual murderess? Psychiatrist Carl Palmberg (Theodore Bikel) diagnoses that Graham is amoral but averse to violence. She is also left-handed, while Monahan's killer was right-handed. Montgomery shifts from Graham's antagonist to ally. He begins writing articles making a case that she is innocent. At the minimum, he pushes for a commutation on her death sentence by gas. It is now a battle against the clock to save Barbara Graham. Will she make it out alive? Has her time finally run out?

The veracity of I Want to Live! has been brought into question in the ensuing years. Nelson Gidding and Don M. Mankiewicz's screenplay makes the case that Graham was innocent and wrongly executed. Gidding and Mankiewicz used actual court testimony, Montgomery's articles and Graham's own correspondence to craft their story. As such, one can argue that I Want to Live! is biased in Graham's favor. We also see this when Graham does her best to go straight. 

The film, however, does not downplay Graham's less-than-noble virtues. We see her consistently defiant even when it goes against her own best interests. She is a party girl, ready with a snippy comeback no matter what the circumstances. "Life's a funny thing", someone observes to Graham early in I Want to Live! She replies with a touch of sarcasm, "Compared to what?". As the film comes to a dramatic close, one of the guards in the gas chamber advises her to take deep breaths to make the execution easier. Graham softly but bitterly replies, "How would you know?".

A strong element that makes I Want to Live! both gripping and moving is director Robert Wise's decision to make the execution preparations very methodical. We see the precise preparations for the execution. As stated earlier, I Want to Live! has an almost documentary-like manner in these scenes. There are many dramatic moments, especially when Graham is in her cell waiting to see if she lives or dies. In between them though, we see how the gas chamber is set up. It makes for very sad viewing.

Sadder viewing comes from Graham's final hours, which feel stretched into days. At one especially difficult moment, she is being walked towards the gas chamber when the silence is broken by a telephone ring. As she is walked back to her cell, Susan Hayward as Graham softly says, "Why do they torture me so?".

I Want to Live! has a firm anti-capital punishment slant. It also has a heart in Susan Hayward. Winning an Academy Award on her fifth nomination, Hayward creates a moving portrait of this at-times self-destructive and self-defeating woman. Hayward makes Barbara Graham into a tough but vulnerable broad. Graham is a survivor, a sly and tough cookie who knows the score. "What's your occupation? What do you do?" one of her criminal cronies asks her. Her smart reply? "The best I can". 

We get to see Graham's tough exterior in the film. We also see through Hayward's performance the frightened and desperate woman railroaded into a disaster. Hayward has what always helps an actress: a court testimony scene. On the stand, we see Graham's shift from disbelief to desperation and ultimately to quiet resignation. Once the jury hears about her past conviction for perjury, Graham realizes that it is all over for her. 

Hayward as Graham has a running manner of throwing fake dice to see what comes up. We see that ultimately, she got snake-eyes. She plays Graham as belligerent, showing that she will stand up to everyone. She also makes one feel great sadness for her at the end. Hayward does this effectively by controlling her voice. She never fully screams or rages. However, it is when she is quiet and soft that makes her performance all the more impactful.

As her final appeal fails, she says softly, "I want a mask". She does not want to see anyone on the way to the execution. Moments like those break your heart.

I Want to Live! also has strong performances from Oakland as Montgomery. He shifts well from someone who uses her to sell papers to someone who tries to undo the damage. Virginia Vincent in her small role does well as Peg, the girl who cut out to become a respectable housewife. She stayed loyal to the end. 

A surprising element in I Want to Live! is the use of a jazz score written by Johnny Mandel. It gives the film an urgency and decadence that matches the story. Of particular note is when we see Graham slip back into a life of petty crime. The drums and bongos push the tension of the situations. Fortunately, Wise also opted to keep the final section quiet. That too makes the end more tragic.

I Want to Live! in some ways is a B-picture. There is a strong element of grittiness and lack of polish. However, these are not noble people. They are criminals and hoods. I Want to Live! shows us that Barbara Graham was also a person. She made terrible choices and paid the ultimate price for them. One cannot but be moved by the film. The real-life Barbara Graham may have ultimately been guilty of murder. The film version of Barbara Graham was a victim who was sleazy but innocent.

1923-1955

DECISION: B+

Missing (1982): A Review

MISSING

The Chilean coup that overthrew socialist President Salvador Allende and led by General Augusto Pinochet occurred on September 11, 1973. This curious historical coincidence has led some to refer to the coup as "the other September 11th". I think that is a disservice to compare the events in 1973 to those of September 11th, 2001. That, however, does not diminish the horrors that those murdered in the immediate aftermath of the coup d'etat suffered. Missing chronicles the brutality of the 1973 coup through the experiences of one family. It is a well-acted, directed and written film that one remembers long after the credits roll.

American expatriates Charlie and Beth Horman (John Shea and Sissy Spacek) are mixed about living in Chile. Charlie, who is working on an animated film and translates for a left-wing newspaper, wants to stay. Housewife Beth would rather leave. The constant shooting around her, the curfews, the overall stress and terror of the situation is wearing on her. After visiting some friends, Beth misses the bus and is forced to live out a night of terror, hiding from the military when she fails to get home by curfew.

Her failing to make curfew and hiding on the streets may have ultimately saved Beth's life. She returns to their home to find it in shambles, ransacked and Charlie now missing. In desperation, she makes contact with her estranged father-in-law, Edmund (Jack Lemmon). Ed, a devoted Christian Scientist, has never been supportive of his son and daughter-in-law's liberal to radical politics. Arriving in a militarized and paranoid Santiago, Chile, Ed and Beth are civil but opposed when it comes to several matters.

Ed, having already worked with government official in the U.S., believes that the American embassy can help locate Charlie. Beth has worked with both American and Chilean officials. She has found them ranging from indifferent to downright hostile. Ed also holds Beth and Charlie partially responsible for Charlie's disappearance.

As Ed and Beth join forces, the extent of what happened to both Charlie and Chile becomes clearer and more alarming. Charlie in flashbacks finds retired and current American military officers in the resort town of Vina del Mar. Charlie, who was forced to stay overnight in Vina del Mar with his platonic friend Terry (Melonie Mayron), soon starts wondering why they are there at all. Ed and Beth manage to find one of Charlie's friends, David Holloway (Keith Szarabajka). Holloway was one of two last Americans swept up in early raids. He was taken to the National Stadium along another of Charlie's colleagues, Frank Teruggi (Joe Regalbuto). David lived.

The week keeps going. Ed soon starts understanding how the American government will be less than helpful if not downright complicit. He will see just how tied they are to what has happened both to Chile and to Charlie. Eventually, the truth about Charlie Horman is found.

Missing does something that makes it more effective. Under Costa-Gavras' direction, the film has no big scenes, no great drama to push the story forward. Far from it, as Missing is a surprisingly quiet film. Even an earthquake late in the film does not build up to something epic.

In that scene, as Ed and Beth along with the other alarmed hotel guests attempt to walk out, they are warned not to. One couple, cradling their child, ignores the dual proclamations of curfew and the hotel's building integrity. We hear the gunshots coming from outside. While we are relieved to see them return, almost comically, back inside, Missing shows us exactly what kind of state the Hormans are in.

In fact, we rarely see many acts of overt violence. Most of the terror is implied, sometimes in the most unexpected ways. When David and Frank are taken to the National Stadium, we overhear this exchange in Spanish.

"Where do you work?", a soldier asks one of the prisoners who has come up to his table.

"The Senate", the man replies, surprisingly calmly.

"What do you do there?", the soldier asks.

"I'm a Senator", is the reply.

Throughout Missing, the horrors of the junta retribution are visible but not dwelt on. We see the bloody corpses on the street. As Ed and Beth go to another hospital, a group calls out for everyone to see something outside the window. Everyone can then see another human corpse being carried by the current. The matter-of-fact manner to Missing makes things more chilling. It is to where when Ed and Beth are told that there will be an extra charge to send Charlie's body home that needs to be paid immediately, the viewer feels that mix of disbelief and rage.

Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek received Lead Actor and Actress Oscar nominations for Missing. Both, I think, did excellent work. Lemmon makes Ed Horman a very calm and rational man in a chaotic and irrational world. Often, he underplays scenes. He can get angry, most often at Beth and by extension Charlie. However, as Missing continues, we see this steady man slowly crumble. 

When quietly informed by someone of Charlie's true fate, Lemmon does not start wailing or having a big breakdown. Instead, we see Ed struggling between accepting what he now knows and the truth of the wild goose chase that he was purposefully sent on. One of the hardest moments in Missing is when he and Beth finally are allowed to go to the National Stadium, which has become an unofficial prison/detention center. The hope to find Charlie fading, Ed at first cannot bring himself to use the public address system he's been permitted to. Beth calls out for Charlie. Ed then can muster the courage to call out for his son. Given all that we have seen, we should know that the young man running to the foreground is not Charlie. In Lemmon's face, however, we see that faint hope he carries given some life. 

Sissy Spacek does fine work as Beth. She is more openly cynical about American involvement both in the coup and in functionaries being terribly unhelpful. However, she also sees that Ed is not dumb. He is at heart a good, decent man who holds to his shattering ideals. He can be dismissive of Charlie's works and views. He also, Beth sees by the end, is a father who does love his son.

Missing, in a curious way, shows that Ed still has not given up on his American idealism. As he and Beth finally leave Chile, Ed is visibly but quietly angry at the American embassy flunkies. "I just thank God we live in a country where we can still put people like you in jail", he tells them. Many people might scoff at that idea. However, I see it as revealing that Ed Horman still has faith despite the cruelty of it all. This is a man who amidst all the chaos both external and internal managed to find time to visit a Christian Science Reading Room. Faith, both religious and political, is important to Ed. Missing shows that despite all the horrors he has seen and endured, his moral compass is still solid. Ed does not shrink from trying to stop violent acts, even if it is dangerous. Ed's morality makes him heroic and tragic.

This ability to keep things grounded and simple may be why Missing won Best Adapted Screenplay. Costa-Gavras and Donald Stewart adapted Thomas Hauser's nonfiction book The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice into a somber, intelligent film that keeps a metaphorical human face on this overwhelming tragedy. Costa-Gavras did similar work in his Oscar-nominated directing. There is nothing flashy in Missing. When Frank Turoggi is found, the camera goes first to Beth and Ed, and then slowly rises upwards, to see the other spread out corpses. Often in Missing, no one has to say a word to know just how shocking things are.

One aspect in Missing that was not Oscar-nominated was Vangelis' score. Missing, particularly its gentle, somber main theme, is haunting, elegant and moving. Like much in the film, the Main Theme from Missing serves as counterpoint to the brutality of the situation.

Missing is a strong film on all levels. It is more than a chronicle of one person caught up in a shocking situation. It is an ode to how small figures can still display great courage even when facing massive odds.   

DECISION: B+

Klute: A Review

KLUTE

I find it surprising that 1970 cinema had a lot of paranoia around it. Surveillance, hidden recordings, the threat of crime everywhere. It might be an aftereffect of the trauma that Watergate created. Klute, the crime thriller about call girls and the men who use and abuse them, is one of the best in this subgenre. Standout performances and a strong style are some of Klute's best qualities.

Pennsylvania business Tom Grunemann is missing. After six months, his friend John Klute (Donald Sutherland) agrees to investigate. Klute's best clue is an obscene letter found in Grunemann's office addressed to a Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda). Bree is a struggling model and actress in New York City, where Tom was last seen.

Bree is also a call girl who by her own admission turns anywhere from 600 to 700 tricks a year. Bree considers these encounters something of an acting job. She has to feign interest, cater to a john's preferences and fake being someone else. Bree is well-paid for her charms, but she is also in therapy for her various personal issues.

Bree is also in danger. Could Tom Grunemann be the client that had roughed up Bree two years earlier? Bree has gone through so many men that she cannot recognize Tom by his picture. She agrees, reluctantly, to help Klute in his investigation. This requires Bree to metaphorically go into her past. The Grunemann case is connected to Bree's former pimp Frank Ligourin (Roy Scheider), who was the pimp to two other call girls connected to Grunemann. One is an apparent suicide. The other, Arlyn Page (Dorothy Tristan) is an addict.

Bree and Klute begin a personal relationship. For Klute, it is closer to genuine affection. For Bree, it is more complicated, a mix of genuine affection and manipulation for self-preservation. As Klute keeps digging, he finds that Grunemann himself may have been the fall guy to a multiple murderer. Arlyn herself is another apparent suicide. Could Bree Daniels herself be the next person on this hit list? Who is behind two to three murders? Klute, having zeroed in on his suspect, does crack the case. However, will Bree emerge from "the life"?

It is interesting that while the film is titled Klute, the focus is actually not on Klute. Instead, Klute is more about Bree. Jane Fonda in her Best Actress Oscar-winning performance is excellent as Bree Daniels. Fonda has to, in a sense, play several roles. There is Bree Daniels, the actual person who faces unwitting danger. She also has to play the various versions of male fantasies to her clients. In one scene, she tells a client a fantastical story about having just returned from Cannes while performing a strip show for him. The seemingly casual, flirtatious, cooing manner mask the deep self-loathing and fear that Bree has. Bree as portrayed by Fonda is pleasant, polite and seemingly in control. At one point, she is even able to make wisecracks in an amused manner. When John Klute gives her the taped recordings of some of her encounters, she quips that dirty messages were just what she wanted.

However, she is also troubled and slightly paranoid. Some of Fonda's best scenes are surprisingly not when she is interacting with others. Instead, it is when Fonda is monologuing to the therapist. We see the troubled, complex and disappointed woman. She fears that with Klute, she is doing something that she has not done or let herself do before. She fears that she is letting herself feel. Can someone genuinely love her, Bree Daniels, instead of the version that Bree presents to her clients?

Of particular note is when Bree is forced to listen to her friend's brutal murder that the murderer recorded. In a quiet, still sequence well-directed by Alan Pakula, we focus mostly on Fonda's face as she hears her friend live out her last moments of life. Bree does not openly react. There is no big, dramatic expression. There is no open sense of shock or even terror. Instead, Bree begins to softly cry. She is crying for her friend. She is also, I think, crying for herself. She may be crying because she fears that her life is about to come to an end. However, I think she is also crying for all that could have been, and, in those moments, she thinks will never be. It is a deeply moving moment so well-directed by Pakula and well-acted by Fonda.

Donald Sutherland is more capable of matching Fonda as the lead character. He brings a quiet manner to John Klute. Sutherland never rages or has a big, dramatic moment. In fact, John Klute is a very quiet man. Even his lovemaking is soft. Klute is polite, professional, calm and controlled. That makes when he roughs up Frank Ligourin a startling moment. Even in this scene, Sutherland does not show Klute to be brutal. He makes Klute into a passionate figure, but one who is forceful only when needed. 

Klute has outstanding work from Roy Scheider in an early role as the arrogant and sleazy pimp. It is a small role, but he makes the most of his screentime. The same goes for Charles Cioffi as Frank Cable, Tom's fellow Pennsylvania businessman who may know more than he admits.

Klute has a strong visual style, full of darkness courtesy of cinematographer Gordon Willis. We see sometimes a sole candlelight dominate the otherwise dark room, perhaps a metaphor for the dark world Klute is. Michael Smalls' score feels closer to something out of a horror film than a thriller. However, like the cinematography, it adds to the sense of dread and paranoia that Klute has. Andy and Dave Lewis' Oscar-nominated screenplay holds the viewers' attention and has good, logical turns. It also allows the viewer to be ahead of the characters, building up the tension. 

To be fair, I do not understand some of the terminology in Klute. When rattling off some potential kinks that Klute might be into, Bree asks if he's "a button freak". Maybe I'm just naive, but I've no idea what that could possibly entail.

I like to think of Klute as the dark side to Butterfield 8 or even Anora. All three films had women who sold their virtue who ended up falling for a particular man. All three also won their leading ladies a Best Actress Oscar. However, the latter two did not give their call girls anything close to a happy ending. Klute, despite the darkness it lived in, ends with just a glimmer of hope. Perhaps there can be life after sex work. Excellent acting and a taut story make Klute worthy of investigating. 

DECISION: A-

Now You See Me: Now You Don't. A Review

NOW YOU SEE ME: NOW YOU DON'T

The Four (Plus) Horsemen of Magic ride again in Now You See Me: Now You Don't. There are a few things that, from the get-go, I do not understand. I do not understand why Now You See Me 2 was not titled Now You See Me: Now You Don't. I do not understand why the third film of this series was made almost a decade after the second one. I do not understand why these films are actually popular. Up to point, I do; they can be enjoyable romps if you abandon logic altogether and accept what is given no matter how outlandish or nonsensical. As it stands, this unexpected franchise still isn't as good as it thinks it is. Now You See Me: Now You Don't is probably the best of the bunch. Granted, a low bar to cross but there it is.

Magic fans have cracked the clues to a surprise mystery show by legendary magicians the Four Horsemen. The dominant figure is rapid-fire illusionist J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), who is the master of ceremonies. However, this reunion brings back mind reader and hypnotist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), master cards man & sleight-of-hand artist Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and escape artist Henley Reeves (Isla Fischer). Together, they manage to steal billions of cryptocurrencies from creepy cook Brett Finnegan (Andrew Santino) and give it back to all the show attendees.

However, all this is really a set-up. The Four Horsemen were never really there. Instead, they were a mix of holograms and voice impersonators by three junior magicians. The "random magic show attendee pulled from the audience" is really Bosco LeRoy (Dominic Sessa), the mastermind of this scheme. The ringer was aided by June McClure (Ariana Greenblatt) and Charlie Gies (Justice Smith). Our Three Little Ponies think themselves clever. However, they were not expecting the real J. Daniel Atlas to pop up in their secret loft where they've been squatting. Atlas has been summoned by the powerful and mysterious society known as The Eye to get them to Antwerp.

Why? The Eye is now targeting Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike). Veronika is a South African diamond mine queen who has been laundering money for various war criminals and dictators. This is something that her father, a Nazi collaborator, had been doing, so she's keeping to the family business. Horseman Number One and his Three Little Ponies now must steal The Heart Diamond, the world's largest diamond that is rarely exhibited. It will be put up for private auction to raise more money. This heist will require not just elaborate disguises and trickery. It will require the remaining Horsemen, who appear at the chaotic auction and successfully swipe the Heart.

Now, it is off to France where they must go and solve more mysteries from The Eye. The Horsemen's frenemy Thaddeus Marcus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) is there to guide them until Veronika and the paid-off French police storm the chateau. The seven Horsemen and Little Ponies are forced apart. It will take their skills to rescue Merritt, Jack and June. It will also require the return of Lula May (Lizzie Caplan), another Horseman who is a mistress of disguise.

All but Merritt manage to escape Veronika's clutches. He, however, knows a hidden Vanderberg secret that might connect to her family's connection to a Vanderberg family murder. A deal is struck: the Heart Diamond in exchange for Merritt. Nothing is as it appears, with more twists and turns involved. Horsemen are in danger; South Africans are exposed. While ultimately everything works out, there might be room for Our Little Ponies to join the Five Horsemen thanks to the hologram of Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo).

Do people even care about logic? The two previous Now You See Me films were not exactly the most plausible of stories. I also can barely remember much of them. I should, perhaps, accept that one goes to a Now You See Me film for the implausibility of everything. Now You See Me: Now You Don't is going all-in for implausibility. 

There are things to admire in Now You See Me: Now You Don't. Some credit should be given to the writing team of Michael Lesslie, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese and Seth Grahame-Smith for acknowledging Henley and Lula into the film. The film also gave us somewhat logical explanations for the various exploits. For example, how the Heart Diamond managed to get swiped did make some sense.

The film also had a slightly wry, winking manner in how it dealt with some of its characters.  

We get a battle of generations between the Five Horsemen and the Three Little Ponies. I note that Jessie Eisenberg is a mere nineteen years older than Dominic Sessa. Curiously, Dave Franco and Justice Smith are only a decade apart. As such, it hardly feels like this war between Gen X and Gen Z. I believe Thaddeus described it as "wisdom and skill versus youth and arrogance". Sometimes this was played up a bit. For example, June and Jack informally competed against each other on the art of lockpicking. Gen Z managed to win, thanks in part to its love for Escape Rooms. 

Now You See Me: Now You Don't does manage to integrate the Little Ponies into the Four Horsemen. That should be a credit to director Ruben Fleisher, who kept things going in a pretty solid pace. The film is close to two hours. However, I rarely felt that it lagged. Sometimes it did seem to crawl, such as in the extended Chateau scene. Still, things went relatively smoothly.

There are some other benefits in Now You See Me: Now You Don't in terms of acting. I am nowhere near saying that the performances were good. Far from it. However, it is fascinating to watch Jesse Eisenberg and Justice Smith face off in a battle of who can play themselves the worst. Eisenberg and Smith are not actors. They have never been actors. They probably will never be actors. In every film that they are in, they play the same type. As such, seeing them together is weirdly fascinating. One wonders which one will try to play a character.

As a side note, the age gap between Eisenberg and Smith is 12 years.  

Rosamund Pike is loving her South African accent and playing this Bond villain. She's had some experience given her role in Die Another Day. In Now You See Me: Now You Don't, Pike seems to revel in Veronika Vanderberg's villainy. Her plan to off the Five Horsemen is so amusing that even a Bond villain like Drax would find it a bit absurd. Why bother sending them to the desert when you can bring the desert to them? Sure, it is easier to just shoot them, but why not give them a magic act-type trap?

In the acting range, Pike and Dominic Sessa were the standouts. Pike was delightfully evil. Sessa, building on his stellar work in The Holdovers, made the leader of Our Little Ponies into a compelling figure. He and Pike face off at the auction, where he pretends to be an environmental activist crashing the event. At one point, he shouts, "ZIP IT, SPARKLES!", which did make me laugh.

Everyone else save for two were serviceable. I am not saying that they were great. They were exactly as I said: serviceable. Harrelson, Franco, Fischer and Caplan all know their characters. They were not stretching but they were not embarrassing themselves. Ariana Greenblatt did not add or subtract in her role as the mistress of misdirection.

We now come to our non-actors. Jesse Eisenberg and Justice Smith, as stated, never actually act as in portray characters who are not themselves. It is a contest to see who can try to act and look worse. Eisenberg has a particularly bad moment when attempting to mourn Thaddeus. There was no emotion whatsoever from Eisenberg. I think he might have moved his head a bit. That, for him, is displaying deep grief.

Justice Smith, I would say, beats Eisenberg in the "bad actor even when playing himself" role. I think it is because for reasons unknown to all mankind, Now You See Me: Now You Don't choose to center the film around Charlie. I will give grudging respect to a film that has Justice Smith wear a cap reading "I Am An Twerp". I found that amusing and maybe descriptive. 

We get a twist involving Charlie that is both predictable and laughable. To be fair, little hints are dropped through the film. However, I found the shocking twist a bit preposterous.

Then again, the Now You See Me films have always hung on being preposterous. They also hang on everything going exactly right. This entire plot hangs on there being a master plan that had been decades in the making. It asks us to believe that despite being world-famous and photographed often, Veronika would not recognize famed photographer Marc Schriber (Dominic Allburn). It also asks us to believe that Schriber would be so easily fooled by Our Little Ponies. 

I suppose that I am being too harsh with Now You See Me: Now You Don't. All of the films have been fine until it goes one step too far for me. This third film, with a fourth teased at the end, is probably the best of the bunch. That is a low bar, but there it is. "You can do magic; you can have anything that you desire", the band America sings. I desire a Now You See Me film that makes sense and I can enjoy without turning my brain off.  

DECISION: C-