Movie Analysis : To Leslie

Directed by : Michael Morris

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8129806/

You are living, right ? I am sorry it ain't a fairytale. We all should have done things differently. But you are what's wrong with you. Not anyone else.

Spoilers ahead...

Journey of a West Texas single mother, Leslie (Andrea Riseborough) who wins a $190,000 lottery. Instead of having a secured and stable life for herself and her son, her lifestyle choices makes that money end way too quickly. Years later, she gets thrown out of a roadside motel, staying at her son's James (Owen Teague) place lasts few days only as she can't quit drinking. She is forced to live with hippie relatives, Dutch (Stephen Root) and Nancy (Allison Janney), which expectedly also doesn't last long as Leslie isn't someone who will obey the rules. Having no job, no where to live, Leslie by chance meets a kind man, Sweeney (Marc Maron) who is the owner of a motel along with Royal (Andre Royo). Sweeney offers Leslie a job at his place along with a room to stay at. The only question is, will Leslie change this time or her same routine cycle will continue on ?

We all make mistakes, and we all deserve second chances. Just in case of Leslie, she keeps on denying those chances, the urge to have one bottle of liquor is too much than to be able to enjoy mother-son time with James. 

Leslie is not a likeable character, yet the terrific acting of Andrea Riseborough makes it really tough to not sympathize with her. At times, you feel like telling her 'please no, not this time, give it a try atleast'. That's how it is with broken people, they would appear like mean bad people but its just a very bad phase they are going through. Andrea very well captures the vulnerability of Leslie through many silent shots we see in the entire film. 

There's this excellent scene when Leslie is at bar having a drink while a song starts running 'Are you sure, this is where you want to be?', and she chuckles as if saying 'Really, is this bar going to tell me I am living my life wrong way?', but as the song keeps playing, her thoughts wander around how true those words are. Its probably the first turning point in her life, and other one is when she meets Sweeney.

One question that came to my mind was that, did Sweeney offer help to Leslie just out of kindness, or was it because of the past related to his wife who was also an alcohol addict. Whatever be the reason, Marc Maron plays a very important supporting role, because at a time when everyone considers Leslie a hopeless case, its just him who is willing to give her a chance to change. The fact that he knows nothing about Leslie's past and sees her just as a lady who is coping with this addiction, helps too. 

Scenes between Sweeney and Leslie are great to watch, mostly because for a change Leslie shows honest interest. Love the talks they have about Royal or his running across field habits, or his choice of music they play, and the way their relation develops over time. I felt little angry when Leslie shuts him off and leaves the motel, for a moment I felt the narrative might be leading to a very dark sad ending. 

The ending is heart-warming even if it doesn't fully suggest that Leslie will forever stay clean. I love those 2 last occasions when Leslie has alcohol in front of her, and she overcomes the urge both times. 

Overall, To Leslie is a tough watch, at times irritating too but a strong and if I may say Oscar winning performance by Andrea Riseborough makes this a good watch. Its a pretty interesting character study of an addict that we have seen a lot before. 

My Rating : 6.5/10 

Movie Analysis : Turning Red (Hotstar)

Directed by : Domee Shi

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8097030/

Honoring your parents sounds great, but if you take it too far, well, you might forget to honor yourself.

Spoilers ahead.. 

Meilin (voice by Rosalie Chiang), a 13 year old Chinese-Canadian girl living in Toronto wants to be independent but with a very overprotective mother Ming (Sandra Oh), its asking for a lot. She participates in a daily duty of honoring their ancestor at her family temple. One day she wakes up as a red panda and learns it's a family thing/curse where any strong excited emotions would bring the panda out until its controlled through a ritual. 

I felt the themes of parents (in this case just the mother) having full control over their children and the age of 'almost becoming a woman' aren't explored well enough. Rather its the fluffy red panda that gets silly scenes to get laughs out which clearly meant the target audience here was not the adults. 

In past Pixar movies has brilliantly showed the dynamics of a child and parent, both struggling to come to terms with each other's interests, lifestyle and the whole coming of age. Whether its 'Inside Out', 'Coco', 'Luca' (with whom this movie's concept of turning into panda resembles too), or even 'Soul' where the only 2 scenes were so maturely handled. 

Meilin becoming a rebel and letting out her frustration towards her mom near end of movie didn't really needed a panda concept. Infact, watching all ladies of Meilin family turning into pandas by the end made it even worse to watch. Also, it didn't help how much stereotyped the friend circle of Meilin was, nor does the way Meilin handles the panda to make money out of it just to enter a concert specially when she is so smart always getting A's in subjects. 

There are few decent fun Panda moments specially when Meilin goes to school all worried if she gets excited which for her age she does a lot, she may reveal the panda side to everyone in class. I liked the scene where her friends is the reason she finds a way to control the panda for time-being.  Also, her father suggesting there's nothing wrong in keeping a little messy side with you, but why did it take him whole film's screen time to give this advice!

The best takeaway for me was the 4*Town's song 'Nobody like you', I instantly liked it.

Overall, apart from some laughs, Turning Red didn't work for me and the message it wanted to say never comes across as it should had. 

My Rating : 4.5/10 

Movie Analysis : Mrs Harris Goes To Paris (AmazonPrime)

Directed by : Anthony Fabian

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5151570/

Them days are over when you can treat people like scum and expect loyalty in return.

Spoilers ahead.. 

Ada Harris (Lesley Manville), a widowed and very kind lady works as a cleaner at some houses. One day she sees a gorgeous dress that one of her owner bought for a marriage, which she immediately falls in love with. Being a dreamer she wants to buy a similar couture Dior dress. Once she arranges the money in different unusual possible ways, she heads off to Paris that would not only be an adventure but also change the way House of Dior works. 

The idea of wanting to go to a country despite not having money just for a dress felt crazy to me, but on a second thought I felt everyone have their own dreams and probably Ada Harris was to wear one of those gorgeous outfits that she otherwise never gets to wear, specially not been young anymore. Like my dream is to have a PlayStation which may sound silly or not worthy for others.

There are many times I wrong guessed the narrative, like the dog race I thought she would get again lucky or when she reaches Paris and seeks help from stranger guys to reach the House of Dior and I was worried her money is about to be stolen when she wakes in the morning. So glad, the film never went in these directions. 

The main two themes, kindness and dreamer are fully well explored thanks to the adorable performance from Lesley Manville. She is so good that in some scenes you just wish she wouldn't be so kind whether its to that house owner who keeps finding excuses not to pay her salary, or that young spoilt brat who is selfish. Love her change of tone in the scene when she misunderstands the guy who came to give pension money after learning about her husband's death few days back. 

Apart from the obvious visuals including Eiffel Tower, the Paris scenes are great to watch for the detailing shown regarding the work at 'House of Dior'. Again, the same thought came to mind when I saw people bidding sit for some 100 dresses modelled around and then choosing the one they wanna buy. Does this happen in real ? Is that a rich society thing ? I am probably not right person to talk about fashion yet I was all the time engaged in how this works, the kind of uneasiness Claudine Colbert (an excellent Isabelle Huppert) feels when Ada Harris comes unannounced because to see a cleaning lady try to buy such expensive dress full of reputation was very new. That is shown through the happy reaction of the models who are pleased to know how much Dior is wanted.

Ada Harris interactions with all the people she meets in Paris, and immediately forming a bond is great to watch. There's Andre Fauvel (Lucas Bravo), who she helps professionally for the inputs that would help Dior succeed in longer run among the modern woman, and also personally his secret love for one of the models Natasha (Alba Baptista). She has a lovely equation with Marquis de Chassagne (Lambert Wilson) that includes a heartbreaking scene, probably you can argue that Ada got little carried away.

Both Ellen Thomas and Jason Isaacs are good in their supporting acts, always around to comfort Ada Harris whenever she feels low. It was easy to guess the ending would be on a dance between Archie and Ada. 

The hiccups for me were how quickly the conflicts are sorted out in span of a small scene, whether its Claudine Colbert's change of heart, or how the main head of 'House of Dior' immediately agrees to the ideas of Andre Fauvel. And, the romantic train scene to stop Natasha from leaving was very filmy (it would had been airport if it was Indian film). 

Overall, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris is one of those sweet movies that I enjoy watching even though its not the kind of genre I usually prefer.

My Rating : 7/10

Movie Analysis : Causeway

Directed by : Lila Neugebauer

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10192406/

It would just be nice to have someone around. Have coffee together in the morning. You know, smoke in the evening. Cook together sometimes.

Spoilers ahead..

Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence) suffers a severe brain injury when she's deployed at war in Afghanistan. Still suffering from PTSD, she returns back to her home, a place she doesn't want to be. Soon she befriends a mechanic shop owner James (Brian Tyree Henry) who himself has been dealing with a past he can't let go.

A very simple straightforward screenplay that has very less to offer in terms of story, which is its plus point and also becomes its drawback. I can understand the slow pace and very less action happening because the main lead is in the phase of life where she is trying to recover and it doesn't help that she has a mom (dyfunctional) that hardly cares. But the movie totally lacks conflict, and the only one that comes feels very un-necessary spoiling the good friendship Lynsey and James were having. 

Both Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry deliver good performances which is why despite many silent scenes, the movie didn't feel like a bore. Could possibly had shown Lynsey's life before she joined the war, or early childhood days showing why she dislikes being at home. 

The prison scene with her brother was nice one, even with no character development it hits the sentimental tone it was acquiring. I also love the scene when James tells Lynsey he just misses someone to be around at his big lonely house. The decision to not show the incident Lynsey had, rather just hear out from her the exact account how it happened, was a good one. 

In the end, Causeway is a slow likeable movie, but with minimal drama and conflicts, it just never goes beyond that. 

My Rating : 6/10

Movie Analysis : Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Netflix)

Directed by : Alejandro G Inarritu

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14176542/

Life is just a brief series of senseless events. You must surrender to it. 

Spoilers ahead...

A decorated journalist who is now an independent documentarian, Silverio (Daniel Gimenez Cacho) visits his home place Mexico along with his family, wife Lucia (Griselda Siciliani), son Lorenzo (Iker Sanchez Solano) and daughter Camila (Ximena Lamadrid). Silverio is about to become 1st Mexican for a prestigious award in United States. Its also a sort of semi-biography of the director Inarritu himself. 

Felt the movie was way too self-indulgent, with some shots just meandering on. I did like most of the crazy creative sequences specially the hilarious way of showing the sorrow of losing new born child when the doctor says 'the child finds this world too fu*ked up to be part of'', though the reverse procedure of child birth was very gross to watch. 

Bardo actually means the state of body after death and before rebirth (if that really happens). In the movie, the way its filmed it gets tough to know which scene is real, which is a dream, which is part of documentary by the name 'False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths' and by the ending you realise there's a possibility maybe the entire movie took place in the head of Silverio. 

I liked the conversation Silverio has with his dad in a dreamy sequence, minus his odd looking face over his younger version (no idea the reason behind doing this). Even the bodies falling down one by one was good until its revealed what the actual scene is. Muting other person's voice or speaking without using lips was another interesting choice. There's a heated arguement Silverio has with his son about Mexico and immigrants. And also, we see how much Silverio suffers from the imposter syndrome. 

To be honest, there's a lot to like about the themes this film covers, some of them individually works, but as a collective film it never really engages me. Maybe its a film meant for either the art lovers or those who know Inarritu work closely as I have only seen 2 of his films in past. 

Still, no regrets of watching Bardo even if it wasn't really my sort of movie. 

My Rating : 5/10 

Movie Analysis : The Sea Beast (Netflix)

Directed by : Chris Williams 

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9288046/

You can be a hero and still be wrong. 

Spoilers ahead... 

Popularly known as Monster Hunters, Jacob Holland (voice by Karl Urban) and Captain Crow (voice by Jared Harris) on their 'Inevitable' ship are headed to hunt down a sea monster 'The Red Bluster'.  They soon find out that a little girl Maisie (voice by Zaris-Angel Hator), a big fan of them, unknowingly had sneaked into the ship. As the journey goes on, Maisie and Jacob discover being a hero isn't always about winning fights. 

The idea of 'Monsters can be good too' or 'War isn't good' has been explored a hell lot in past decade, and here it's not properly executed making it feel like forced upon specially due to Maisie, who for her age acts too much like an adult. 

The starting 15 mins of movie is enjoyable, but the shift of story moment Maisie turns up on the ship starts to derail the movie as the sea adventure never really wows me. Even the animation of the sea monster looked bad probably aimed for the children, and it didn't help that the mannerisms reminded me of Godzilla (for the way she shows anger) and also King Kong (for the relationship she forms with Maisie)

I do like the bonding between Jacob and Captain Crow initially, and would have preferred it to stay same or atleast a valid reason given for the hatred Captain Crow has for the monsters. That's the problem of movie, we are left to assume a lot, nothing is exactly mentioned. The witch sequence felt completely un-necessary and the ending was predictable along with a preachy tone.

Overall, The Sea Beast is one of those movies that you may re-watch in future but you just can't love it. 

My Rating : 5/10 

Movie Analysis : Blonde (Netflix)

Directed by : Andrew Dominik

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655389/

But where does dreaming end and madness begin? Anyway, isn't all love based on delusion ?

Spoilers ahead.. 

A biography on the life of American actress Marilyn Monroe/Norma Jeane (Ana de Armas).

I have never seen any of Marilyn movies, and also rarely heard much about her except for the famous skirt flying scene which frankly speaking I never get what is really great about that. So, I won't comment on how much real the story is, and how much its fictionalised. 

Coming to this movie, the reason to watch was my love for Ana de Armas who in her brief period has become one of my favourites and she doesn't disappoint here too. 

The pace of the film never bothered me, I have seen much slower films than this that were dull. What did effect me was how one note the narrative is. Basically its showing just the negative aspects of Norma Jeane life, from her childhood struggles having a mom with mental issues, a neighbour who sends her to an orphanage, forced sex to get work, forced abortion, miscarriage, domestic violence, and always seen as an object of desire when around men. I mean I could hardly find 1-2% of film where Norma was happy or joking around. I understand you want to show the dark side of her life, but why would anyone watch almost 3 hour long movie that shows no respite and also gets very repetitive with the 'daddy issue' angle with those 'Your tearful father' letters. And some scenes are really disturbing to watch.

Where the movie fails badly is how Marilyn got the fame and how she got addicted to drugs, both are poorly covered in a rush. As a reason her dark life, her choices made, or her mood swings or her alter ego (she hates to see herself as Marilyn on screen), these major themes of the film never fully comes across as it should had. The shift between black & white, and color scenes at places was a turn off too. 

Among rest cast, Julianne Nicholson (playing mother of Norma) is really good in the few scenes she got. Xavier Samuel (playing Cass Chaplin) also is likeable, specially that mirror scene. 

Overall, Blonde just never worked for me. The reaction Norma's first husband gives when she narrates a poem to him is how I felt for the film.To be honest, even though I loved Ana de Armas performance, I really don't want her to win Oscar for this role. 

My Rating : 2.5/10