The Walk, the 2015 film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer, Don John), put director Robert Zemeckis back into the driver’s seat of the unique, quirky, character-driven drams he is best known for. While he can do the heavier dramas quite effectively (Flight, Cast Away, Contact), we remember him less for these movies than some of his other movies. Known for his ability to incorporate technology while still telling emotional stories, The Walk does just that. After looking at his filmography, I see that this is the first movie Zemeckis has ever directed based on a true story. He does a good job. While The Walk is not one of the 20 best movies of 2015, it is entertaining, and many more people will leave the movie liking it than disliking it.
Category Archives: Drama
Love & Mercy (2015)
Love & Mercy, the Brian Wilson biopic that shows two time periods of The Beach Boys’ life’s most recognizable face, is one of the most underrated movies of 2015. Forget whatever you know or think you know about Brian Wilson. For me, that was absolutely nothing. I knew he was a member of The Beach 
Boys, but that was about it. After seeing this movie, I’m not really a fan of The Beach Boys, but I have a new appreciation for the band, especially for Brian Wilson. While the band is known for its carefree car tunes like Surfin USA, I Get Around, and California Girls, not all were as peachy as I thought. I’ve always considered The Beach Boys one of those bands that didn’t have a lot of substance in their songs. Not being a Mr. Happy Go Lucky type guy and having been to the beaches of California only a couple of times, I couldn’t relate to their music like I could a Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen. Their songs, to me, were just that. Peachy. While I will not go out and buy their entire anthology, I will listen to some of their songs, which I might not have in the past. Initially, I had no intention of seeing this movie. I thought it was a documentary at first. But I’m glad I decided to see it. Every fan of the band and everyone who enjoys a good biopic should go out and see this movie.
45 Years (2015)
I drank the Kool-Aid on this one. In many previous reviews, I discussed who would receive the five Best Actress Academy Award nominations. I kept including Charlotte Rampling (Melancholia, The Eye of the Storm) as one of the five based on everything I had been reading. I regret including her name, but, in my defense, January 29th was my first chance to see 45 Years. I saw it a day later and am uncertain what I just saw. I love heavy dramas and movies about broken relationships. I also like slow, methodical movies if they are building towards something. The pieces were in place for 45 Years, but this movie ultimately didn’t do it for me. I realize I am in the minority when I give it a less-than-average review. Nevertheless, it earned a stellar 96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
The End of the Tour (2015)
The most unexpected surprise movie of 2015 was the incredibly well-written and well-acted The End of the Tour. While The Gift was the biggest surprise of the year, I went into that movie believing I would like the film, but not that much. With The End of the Tour, I was super apprehensive about one of those things because the trailer just looked pretty corny. While I know many comedic actors can start in fantastic dramas (Robin Williams, Jonah Hill, Bill Murray), I was very uncertain that Jason Segel was up to this task in his career. Segel has killed it with his comedy, both on the big screen (I Love You, Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Muppets) and television (How I Met Your Mother, Freaks and Geeks). He’s had a couple of misses (Sex Tape, Bad Teacher), but I still felt that he hadn’t worn out his recipe for success. Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, and others have all made hundreds of millions using the same formula. I think Segal is undoubtedly a more talented actor than Sandler. With Ferrell, time will tell. He’s in a lull, but I wouldn’t count him out. Nonetheless, Segal is an unbelievable talent who quietly goes about his business and will continue to earn opportunities in film and television.
The Revenant (2015)
Why not save the best for last? It doesn’t always work out that way, but The Revenant was the final movie released in 2015. In fact, except in a few select theaters in a few select cities, you couldn’t see the film until January 7th. Was it worth the wait? It was. We’ve seen trailers for months building this movie up. Each time I saw a preview, I couldn’t help but get excited. This may have been my most anticipated movie since Shutter Island, and with that movie, I had reason to be wary because it was a 2010 movie released in February. You usually don’t get the best films of the year released that early in the year.