Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Stronger) makes every movie he is in better than it would otherwise be, regardless of it it’s a great movie, a terrible movie, or anything in between. Director David Fincher (Se7en, The Social Network) doesn’t make bad films. With Gyllenhaal and Fincher together, along with an ensemble that includes Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 3, Natural Born Killers), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher, Spotlight), Anthony Edwards (Top Gun, NBC’s ER), Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding, Young Guns), Brian Cox, (The Ring, HBO’s Succession), and John Carroll Lynch (The Trial of the Chicago 7, Jackie), Zodiac was bound for success. While the film connected on all fronts, it felt like it left something to be desired, though this would undoubtedly be true for anyone familiar with the story.
Category Archives: Jake Gyllenhaal
The Sisters Brothers (2018)
My first impression of the trailer of Jacques Audiard’s (Dheepan) The Sisters Brothers was that it too quickly and too easily reminded me of a Quentin Tarantino movie. The trailer teetered the line of whether it was a drama or a comedy, a comedy masquerading itself as a drama, a drama trying to go for so much dark humor, or a variety of other techniques made famous by one of the most recognized and revered directors of our generation. But, honestly, to compare Audiard’s film to one of Tarantino’s would be doing a disservice to Audiard because, with all due respect, this movie is better than anything Tarantino has directed since Pulp Fiction, except for 2009’s Inglourious Basterds. This Tarantino was one that I really liked but one, like each of his movies, had more than a few scenes that were difficult to watch. I know plenty of fans out there think I’m crazy for not liking The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, Sin City, Kill Bill, Jackie Brown, etc., but these just haven’t been my kind of movies. Some of the stories are good, and some of the screenplays he creates are worthy of the Oscar nominations they receive. Still, I just can’t personally get past so many of the uncomfortable scenes, especially his unneeded yet repetitive use of the “N” word over and over again. I haven’t seen a Tarantino film in the theatre since 1996’s From Dusk Til Dawn (a movie whose first half I loved before falling apart). The Hateful Eight was a movie I turned off after 15 minutes because of its excessive use of the “N” word. Django Unchained, a film that uses the “N” word over 100 times, was one that I suffered through because it had received a nomination for Best Picture of the Year, and I watch all Best Picture nominated movies. I am still upset that I gave that movie over two hours of my time. But this is not a post to voice my displeasure over Tarantino. It is a review to celebrate Audiard’s in making a name for himself in this unique movie, which I didn’t totally love but did appreciate. What a 2018 it was for Joaquin Phoenix (Reservation Road, Irrational Man)! This man had had an amazing year. He had Best Actor Oscar buzz surrounding three different movies (Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, You Were Never Really Here, The Sisters Brothers). And while he ultimately did not receive his fourth Oscar nomination, he carried three completely different films, playing three completely different characters in movies that earned 89%, 76%, and 86%, respectively. He’s become a pretty polarizing actor and angered many people with his retirement hoax back in 2009/2010 just to promote his movie I’m Still Here. Nevertheless, the man continues to deliver in absolutely all of his movies. And he delivers here as Charlie Sisters, the younger brother of Eli (John C. Reilly – Chicago, Stan & Ollie), two hitmen who work for The Commodore. They aren’t particularly unlikable men, but they do terrible things, such as killing anyone their boss asks them to kill without question. Part of the Tarantino part, I think, is the guiltless consciousnesses. While I don’t think Charlie and Eli particularly WANT to kill any of these people, it doesn’t necessarily seem like they are losing sleep after they do so. Continue reading The Sisters Brothers (2018)
Wildlife (2018)
There is something very subdued from Paul Dano’s directorial debut, Wildlife, that makes it a more meaningful movie than it probably is. I don’t know if there is a particular term for it other than it felt very Paul Dano-like. The man who never appears to age has delivered in a ton of movies you probably have never seen or left the theater scratching your head over (There Will Be Blood, Love & Mercy, Swiss Army Man, Little Miss Sunshine, Meek’s Cutoff, The Ballad of Jack and Rose). He plays some odd characters, so why wouldn’t his directing style be similar? Interestingly, the cast in his leads one of the most underrated and diverse actors of our generation in Jake Gyllenhaal (End of Watch, Prisoners), who is never afraid to take a risk in a role and is one of the most talented and underappreciated actresses of the same generation in Carey Mulligan (Shame, An Education) who prefers some of the safer roles. As an aside, Gyllenhaal and Mulligan (as of March 2019) have a combined two Oscar nominations to their names. Each should have been nominated at least three times by now…a common theme in my posts is how I think Gyllenhaal has been the sixth Best Actor in a five nomination award on at least three or four occasions. In fact, my very first six-pack post was on Jake Gyllenhaal’s Top 6 Performances. Mulligan is similar, having earned a nomination for An Education, but not one for Shame, Suffragette, Mudbound, Drive…she just has fewer acting credits to her name at this point than Gyllenhaal does. The talented Dano has zero Oscar nominations to his name but should have easily received one for There Will Be Blood. Daniel Day-Lewis performances are like nothing else, but this young man battled the most talented actor of the last 30 years, scene for scene, all the way up to the brutal conclusion.
Continue reading Wildlife (2018)
Stronger (2017)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Life, Everest) continues to take on roles that, seemingly, are each more challenging than his previous. In terms of how Academy Awards, I’m not sure if there is another actor under 50 years of age who has been snubbed as frequently as Gyllenhaal. To date, his only nomination is for 2005’s Brokeback Mountain. However, I truly feel that he has been the odd man out with several other roles, most notably in Southpaw and, particularly, Nightcrawler. While I would put his performance in David Gordon Green’s (All the Real Girls, Undertow) Stronger as one of his top six performances of all-time, I’m not sure it’s in his top three or four. While he was absolutely terrific, this movie did not captivate me in the same way that movies like Brokeback Mountain, Nightcrawler, Southpaw, Nocturnal Animals, Life, Love and Other Drugs, or Brothers did. But it should have. This was based on a true story. It had the sentimentality about an average person overcoming odds and becoming a symbol for patriotism all wrapped into one. And while this movie was very good, it wasn’t even Gyllenhaal’s best performance about a character overcoming adversity. That belongs to Southpaw. But just because the movie wasn’t amazing doesn’t mean that it was not very good. It was.
Continue reading Stronger (2017)
Life (2017)
Wow! Life > Alien!
Yup. You heard that right. 2017 is off to a tremendous start! January, February, and March typically combine for the worst quarter of the year for movies. I’ve been reviewing movies since 2010, and each year has confirmed this belief. I didn’t anticipate 2017 feeling differently, but it is slowly happening. First, there was the surprising Split, which I personally wasn’t a fan of, but one that did fantastic with audiences and critics. Then there was Logan, which is one of my five favorite Marvel movies ever at the time of this writing. Sprinkle in the surprise hit Get Out, the quality reboot Kong: Skull Island, the live-action smash success Beauty and the Beast, and you already have five movies that won’t necessarily be up for awards at the end of the year but will be remembered as success stories for 2017. Now add a late March release of Life, the Jake Gyllenhaal/Ryan Reynolds vehicle that has been wowing potential audiences with both extended trailers and television advertisements during some marquee events. And for good reason. The trailer drew my interest, and, barring a complete rejection by the critics, I knew this would be a movie that I saw in the theater. I am actually surprised by the 66% critics score and even more shocked by the 61% audience score. This movie isn’t necessarily a thinker in that you’re going to get confused, but it makes you use your brain to follow along. For this reason, I don’t expect an audience score to be 95%, but I would expect it to be much higher. Perhaps it was a little slow for some people at times. I certainly did not think so. I was hooked from the beginning and thoroughly engrossed the entire 103 minute run time.