"Nocturnal Animals" Review

OP-ROB RATING: ALL-STAR

        A little less than a year ago, a girl asked me what it felt like to be spineless.  I don’t remember what I said in reply, but I remember how it felt to be affronted like that.  “Nocturnal Animals” brought that feeling to the surface of my memory through its innovative, and shocking story.  Directed by Tom Ford, “Nocturnal Animals” is a story within a story.  The first layer of the film is about a middle-aged Art Gallery Owner named Susan Morrow (Amy Adams).  She lives a sleek and lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles with her unfaithful husband, Hutton Morrow (Armie Hammer).  One day Susan receives a package in the mail from her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) containing a copy of a manuscript for a novel he plans to publish.  Susan begins reading the novel titled Nocturnal Animals and the second layer of the film portrays the events written by Edward in the book.  Ford periodically shifts in and out of the novel as Susan works her way through it.

Edward's novel opens with a man named Tony Hastings (also portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal) driving his wife and daughter down the highway through West Texas in the middle of the night. All is well until they encounter two other vehicles, one of which runs them off of the road. Tony is helpless to protect his family, as three young men get out of their cars and surround them.  Ultimately, Tony and his wife and daughter are forced out of their car and separated. A beaten up Tony is driven by one of the young men down a dirt road and left there.  The leader of the bandits, a scruffy and wild-eyed kid named Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), returns with his friend to pick up Tony calling out to him, "Hey mister, your wife and daughter want you!" However, Tony hides behind some rocks, afraid that they may already be dead, or possibly out of his own cowardice. By light of day, Tony eventually makes his way out of the desert to a police station where he reports what happened. He is then introduced to Detective Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon) who takes on the case. A stark contrast is drawn between Tony and Bobby. One is sensitive, while the other is as gritty and unforgiving as the landscape of West Texas.  The pair embarks on a mission to find Tony's family as well as the evil men who kidnapped them. 

In the film, Ford cuts in between the real story happening with Susan and the fictitious novel she is working through.  It is an ambitious move to have two stories going at once and it doesn’t always work.  There are multiple cuts to Susan just lying down as if she were in a fashion advertisement, totally meaningless, and then back to the novel.  This happens too many times to ignore and shows Ford's weakness as a compulsive director who has the tendency to over-stylize aspects of his film. Another example of this occurs in the opening scene, which is of nude, obese women dancing around at Susan’s art gallery.  These scenes are distractions from the actual story and drain from the film’s potency.

Despite these problems, "Nocturnal Animals" is a fascinating exploration into what it means to be masculine.  In both storylines there are "weak" and "sensitive" men in Edward and Tony.  Unfortunately for the latter, his demeanor robs him of all that he has.  It is only through the ultra-masculine Bobby Andes that he is guided toward vengeance.  However, it is Edward’s story that is the most effective in Ford's film, because he is also robbed of something invaluable because of his “weakness”.  As we learn throughout the movie and with various tidbits of foreshadowing, Edward's novel Nocturnal Animals is a direct message to Susan.  In a masterful ending, she realizes what the novel meant.

“Nocturnal Animals” was recommended to me by one of the most astute observers of film that I know.  He described it as “a jab to the ego of any man”, and he was absolutely correct.  It reminded me exactly of the question that girl asked me many months ago, which was a jab to my core as well.  Not many films have the ability to shake you like the real thing. “Nocturnal Animals” does.  While there are some annoying artistic gimmicks here and there throughout the film, the overall product is focused and powerful.  Ultimately, the film could mean many things, possibly that unpleasant and brutal men like Bobby Andes are needed to combat the vast evil that exists in this world while quiet, sensitive men like Tony Hastings are needed to preserve the good that’s also here.  Or perhaps that revenge is best served cold.

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" Review

OP-ROB RATING: ALL-STAR

           “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is the latest film to be added to the Star Wars canon, though it is not an official “episode”.  Directed by Gareth Edwards, the movie details a period of time in the Star Wars Universe between the events portrayed in “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” and “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope”.  “Rogue One” tells the story of how the Rebel Alliance obtained the schematic plans to the Galactic Empire’s infamous planet-killing weapon, the Death Star.

While the plot of film nestles nicely into the existing Star Wars storyline, "Rogue One" is all but formulated.  The main character is a rebellious young woman named Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) who is brought in by the Rebel Alliance to help track down her father Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelson).  Galen is the master architect of the Death Star, but a defector pilot from the Empire named Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) escapes to deliver a hologram to a gritty Rebel war-lord named Saw Gererra (Forest Whitaker).  The hologram is of Galen explaining he has purposefully constructed a fatal flaw in the Death Star, which would allow it to be destroyed by the Rebels.  As we learn in an opening flashback, Galen originally left the Empire for moral reasons when Jyn was a little girl, but the Empire’s Lead Weapons Researcher Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) tracked Galen down and forced him back to work.  Now, years later Jyn is tasked by the Rebellion to find Saw on the desert planet of Jedha to verify the hologram.   In a series of twists and turns, Jyn ultimately must help the Rebels obtain the schematic plans to the Death Star so that the events in "A New Hope" can take place.

Along the way Jyn is helped by an ensemble cast including Bodhi the pilot, a slick Rebel spy named Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), and a cynical smart-talking droid named K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) among many others.  Standing in the way is the entire Galactic Empire, led by the Sith Lord Darth Vader and his legions of storm troopers and generals.  Among the antagonists in the film are the slimy weapons developer Krennic, and the familiar Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing).  Because Cushing passed away in 1994, Moff Tarkin is actually CGI generated in "Rogue One".  The same technological trick is used for a Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) cameo at the end of the film.

“Rogue One” corrects several of the faults that were in “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens”.  In Abrams’ 2015 film, the story was consistently bogged down by old characters and nostalgic references.   “Rogue One” also has several ties to the original films, but does an excellent job of keeping the throwbacks fresh and relevant.  For example, Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) has a few brief appearances, but in each them he appears in a way audiences have never seen before: he is angrier, and more physically ruthless.  In one scene near the end of the film Vader boards a rebel ship and violently annihilates a band of rebels.  The scene is shocking, given Vader’s restrained fighting tactics in the older movies.

“Rogue One” is also led by protagonists with very human qualities.  In one scene Cassian is shown murdering an innocent informer for the sake of Rebel secrecy.  He later expresses his guilt over what he has done for the Rebellion, while Jyn is faced with all that she has had to give up for the greater good of the galaxy.  Furthermore, “Rogue One” has an element of finitude that is new to the Star Wars genre.  Many of the characters in the film actually die in Death Star strikes.  Unlike previous films where the Death Star immediately destroys a planet, in “Rogue One” the single blast hits the planet like an atom bomb, and the subsequent shockwaves move toward survivors who face certain death.  Seeing a planet blow up from afar is one thing, but to be shown the destruction from the victim's point of view is another.  These kinds of elements have been glazed over in most Star Wars films; “Rogue One” breaks through the often-distant sci/fi fantasy to show real loss, distress, and destruction.  The reward is more authentic joy, triumph and hope.

Despite all of its strengths, “Rogue One” is also a restricted film.  The actual story takes place in between two other concrete stories that have already occurred.  From the outset, “Rogue One” does not have much wiggle room but works as a stand-alone film because of an innovative plot and a thrilling cast of characters.  Many fans of the Star Wars franchise are eagerly waiting for that break out film that pushes the boundaries of the original story.  “Rogue One” is not that film.  But despite the constraints, “Rogue One” is a strong addition to the Star Wars franchise that fills in the cracks in of Death Star narrative while defying many of the norms set forth in previous films.  Perhaps Jyn Erso’s story of going rogue for the greater good will inspire the writers of future Star Wars films to do the same. 

"La La Land" Review

OP-ROB RATING: STARTER

          Mia (Emma Stone) is an aspiring young actress grinding out a living as a barista in Los Angeles while she pursues her dream of making it onto the big screen.  Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a talented pianist who is stuck playing cheap gigs in restaurants while he gathers money to open his own Jazz club that will play “true” Jazz.  Through a series of happenstance meetings all over the city of Los Angeles, Mia and Sebastian eventually fall in love.  The two share an appreciation for the past.  For Mia it is the classic Hollywood movies that inspired her to pursue acting; for Sebastian it is the fading Jazz of legends like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk.   Most importantly, the two share the same struggle of desperately eeking out a life in the City of Angels while reaching for their dreams.

Such is the premise of “La La Land”, a musical romance written and directed by Damien Chazelle.  The last film that Chazelle wrote and directed was “Whiplash” which came out in 2014 to widespread acclaim.  Though it wasn’t a musical, “Whiplash” was also wrapped up in music culture, depicting the hardships of an aspiring jazz drummer in a competitive New York City music school.  For “La La Land”, Chazelle has abandoned the gloomy streets of New York for the sunny avenues of Los Angeles.  In fact, the film opens with a song titled “Another Day of Sun”, in which people stuck in a typical L.A. traffic jam get out of their cars and dance and sing about the wonderful weather among many other stereotypical aspects of L.A. 

The contrast between the reality of Los Angeles and the dreamer’s fantasy of Los Angeles is an interesting comparison that plays out throughout much of the film.  In the opening scene, the joke is obvious:  the traffic is unbelievably bad… but at least it’s always sunny!  In other scenes the comparison is more subtle.  For example, after Mia and Sebastian start dating, Mia speaks with her parents on a phone call about her upcoming one-woman play production and Sebastian’s plans to open a jazz club.  Her parents ask questions like, “Who’s paying for the production?” and “Has he rented out space for the club?”  Mia answers in the negative, revealing how far they are from actually reaching their dreams.  It is moments like these that prove Chazelle’s skill as a writer and director.  While the musicality of Mia and Sebastian’s journey may say one thing, the reality is not so whimsical.

“La La Land” is also bolstered by excellent performances from Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.  There is strong chemistry between these two performers making Mia and Sebastian’s romance feel real and not forced.  However, Stone and Gosling’s strongest moments occur when their characters face failure one their own in the film.  Mia attends several auditions that are cut short by snotty talent scouts or interrupted by rude production workers.  Sebastian deviates from the tacky Christmas set list one night at a restaurant and is promptly fired.  These moments are masterfully acted out by two performers at the top of their game in Stone and Gosling.

However “La La Land”, with all of its strengths, is ultimately a frustrating film.  There are so many meaningful moments that are lost throughout the story.  By the end of the film I found myself questioning what “La La Land” really had to say.  Follow your dreams?  Be true to yourself?  The end of the movie suggests a variety of possibilities, but none are very clear.  Mia and Sebastian both achieve their lifetime dreams, but lose each other in the process.  Also, the entertaining and poignant contrast between reality Los Angeles and the fantasy Los Angeles is heavily tilted toward the latter towards the end of the film.  After all, both characters “make it”, while most people who move out to L.A. waste away as baristas and restaurant workers auditioning for roles they never land.  It is clear that Chazelle has many dreams with “La La Land”, but in the end fails to truly fulfill them.  A film so rich in content should have more to offer than a half-hearted statement akin to, “you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need.”

 Despite the disappointments I still found myself wanting to dance out the theater.  While “La La Land” is not particularly profound in meaning, the film is simply alive.  “La La Land” is too well done and musically satisfying to dismiss, even if it misses a few notes.