Robert De Niro (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver) reunites with director Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street) for this crime drama that sees everything from the mob to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in this three-and-a-half-hour effort that, if you stick with it, will give at least some sense of satisfaction to those willing to endure it. This all-star cast, which includes Scorsese teaming with Al Pacino (The Godfather, Scent of a Woman) for the first time, also includes Joe Pesci (My Cousin Vinny, Casino), Harvey Keitel (Bugsy, The Piano), Anna Paquin (The Piano, Almost Famous), Ray Romano (The Big Sick, CBS’s Everybody Loves Raymond), Jesse Plemons (Hostiles, The Post), and Bobby Cannavale (I, Tonya, Ant-Man).
Category Archives: Crime
The Mule (2018)
Every trailer for a Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby) directed movie over the last decade-plus has made the film look like it’s a guaranteed Best Picture nominee. Whether that proves to be fruition (American Sniper, Flags of Our Father) or not even close (The 15:17 to Paris, Hereafter) doesn’t affect how great the trailers are. Over the last 15 years, Eastwood-directed movies have earned hundreds of millions more combined than they would have otherwise received had they not had terrific trailers. And this is true with 2018’s The Mule. After seeing the trailer for The Mule for the first time back in early October of 2018, the film instantly vaulted to my most anticipated movie of the year. When it wasn’t screened very much before its opening, I got a little worried. Then I saw the mixed reviews start to come in. At the time of this writing, The Mule has a 62% critics square and a 74% audience score, numbers that were a little lower than I anticipated based on the trailer, but right around what I expected them to be after seeing the film.
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Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
Sicario: Day of the Soldado, not so much a sequel to 2015’s megahit Sicario that you have to know exactly what happened in the first one to appreciate the second as it is its standalone movie. The only thing you really need to know to go into the 2018 movie fresh is that (spoiler), the drug war in Mexico has escalated to the point where the United States government is forced to use questionable tactics that force some of its operatives to question the morality of what they are doing and that the US is aided mystifying man with a unique set of skills but a checkered past named Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro – The Hunted, Traffic) whose family is killed after an order by a Mexican Cartel Kingpin named Carlos Reyes. That’s it. This man’s men kill Alejandro’s family, and he wants revenge. If you accidentally read that brief spoiler, shame on you for going at least three years without yet seeing the phenomenal Sicario. And just because I gave a brief spoiler definitely doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check it out if you have not already.
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The Accountant (2016)
Gavin O’Connor’s (Pride and Glory, Miracle) The Accountant is a movie that resonated with audiences ($86 million at the box office, 78% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes) but nearly as much with critics (a score of just 51% on Rotten Tomatoes). I saw the movie on its opening weekend because I thought the trailer looked fantastic and I’ve been a big fan of just about everything Ben Affleck (Argo, Gone Girl) touches, both in front of behind the camera since 2007’s Gone Baby Gone, a film that the led to his reemergence as a Hollywood A-lister. The Accountant looked like it would be the type of movie I love, a gritty drama/thriller that is dark, mysterious, and violent. The Accountant is just that, with its lead character is some masterful number cruncher by day and assassin by night. I was disappointed that I did not enjoy as much as I had hoped. More perturbing was that so many of my friends would ask me if I liked the movie and when I would have to tell them that I didn’t, they would be surprised and said that they liked it. I chalked it up to me not having a good day at the theater. Perhaps I was tired, didn’t feel like being at the movies that day (unlikely), or caught up in texting someone in an empty theater (more likely). I decided I would give the movie another chance when it came to Netflix and, this time, really pay attention. Since so many people saw this movie or are wanting to see it, I was determined to give it as solid of a review as I could. While I did like my second viewing more, I still didn’t love it. And I think a lot of it had to do with me wanting to know everything that was happening and wanting to make sense of it. I was struggling to do this. I had to look at some spoiler sites and read some reviews of others to really appreciate this movie for what it’s worth. There is an audience for it. If you like the Jason Bourne movies, you’ll likely like this. Likewise, if you like movies that have lead characters dealing with a group of complex disorders of brain development, which is one definition of Autism, you’ll like this movie. The Accountant is a movie that I recommend with the preface that you really need to pay attention to this film at all times as there is a lot happening at once. And, also, you need to suspend your beliefs to really enjoy the film. The Accountant (Affleck’s character) is a man who can do it all. But then again, so is Jason Bourne and most people (including me) love those movies, especially the first three. Continue reading The Accountant (2016)
Hell or High Water (2016)
David Mackenzie’s (Spread, Asylum) 2016 surprise is a movie that you’ll like if you go in with very minimal expectations. If you think it’s going to be your typical bank robbery thriller, you might be disappointed. If you think it’s going to be full of suspense, you might likewise be disappointed. If you are interested in a simple character-driven story with a little more than meets the initial eye, you might enjoy Hell or High Water. It’s a bit more quirky than you might think. If you are expecting a massive bank caper drama, this isn’t it. Mackenzie tries to take a different angle with this movie, adding some humor, recklessness, and interesting side characters to a story that is, primarily, still a bank heist film first. And while this movie has a 98% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, this doesn’t mean that most reviewers are scoring it a 9.8/10. Instead, it means that 49 out of 50 give this movie a positive review. While it is an interesting film (and the first one of 2016 that I have watched twice), it is by no means a Best Picture candidate. I know there was talk that it might sneak into the race. I have no idea how it got a nomination for Best Picture, whereas a movie like Sully did not. While Hell or Hgh Water is a decent movie, I think a lot of people (including myself) expected it to be something far more significant than it was. Continue reading Hell or High Water (2016)