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 our generation’s most recognized and revered directors. But, honestly, to compare Audiard’s film to one of Tarantino’s would be doing a disservice to Audiard because this movie is better than anything Tarantino has directed since Pulp Fiction, except for 2009’s Inglourious Basterds. This Tarantino was one that I liked, but one, like each of his movies, had more than a few scenes that were difficult to watch.
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.
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.