FILM DOODLES

Every now and again, a film manages to capture the essence of something timely and way bigger than the mere sum of the minutes it inhabits. The narrative, cinematography and music all feed into a large sense of what it means to be in that particular moment, regardless of whether you can identify with the characters or not. The “stench” of the era is just too strong, emanating from everything ranging from the little details to the grand narrative. The road movie about a group of impoverished youths called “American Honey” belongs to a fleet of films which manage to translate the concentrated high juice of an era into moving images including “Easy Riders”, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Natural Born Killers”.

The main character Star (Sasha Lane) is a delicately constructed image of contemporary youth. Emotionally immature and raw but also fearless and gutsy. She flies through the experiences she gathers on her road trip like a gentle breeze, leaving the audience flabbergasted about how close she comes to numerous life-threatening situations. The tingling feeling of always being on the verge of something bad which never really materialises adds a sense of danger and thrill. Star’s naïve disregard for all the glaring red flags allows her to float through all the threatening and dangerous without letting it scar her – an example of childlike escapism similar to that of “Beasts of the Southern Wild”. The robust see-sawing between actual danger and valuable experience is depicted almost in passing which creates a powerful feeling of what it means to be young.

So what does it mean to be young for the people in “American Honey”? They are all misfits who have for one reason or another exchanged their former lives for a dodgy sales pitch and life on the road. They are by no means ambitious money-hungry career people with dreams of “making it” but just youngsters who want to escape their lives and do not really care about what comes after. The high-water mark that Hunter S. Thompson claimed to be visible to the right eyes, does no longer even cross anyone’s minds. There is nothing beyond the here and now, their contentment or unease is all tied up in the moment. They’ve lost the ability to dream and refuse to remember the past.

This kind of not seizing but more like just existing in the moment is emphasised by the generous use of music in the film. One could even call “American Honey” a strange kind of contemporary musical as a lot of time is devoted to people listening and singing to music. Dialogue is scarce but lyrics take over to tell the story. When Star first sees the volatile but sweet Jake (Shia LaBeouf) in the supermarket dancing on the till, Rihanna makes a prophesy from the speakers, repeating, “We found love in a hopeless place”. Later on, Star’s awkward and painful dance scene with his family member is illustrated by the blasting chorus of “I don't have to make you love me, I just wanna take your time” which predicts the reveal of their actual relationship later on. Not to mention the touchingly beautiful use of Mazzy Star’s “Change into You” and the eponymous “American Honey” by Lady Antebellum. Music in “American Honey” is not a decorative element, it becomes the story. These songs offer the young band of salesmen who are living in the moment the ideal escape. Looking out of a bus window with America becoming one blurry puddle of fields or making the most of a moment in a parking lot before the beginning of another dreary work day, for the duration of these songs, they can forget about everyone and everything.

In addition to all this, “American Honey” is first and foremost a love story. A heart-wrenching and realistically problematic one which causes bouts of irrational jealousy but never overcomes the obstacles thrown at it by life. It is the undercurrent which flavours and directs all the other parts of the film but never becomes the raison d’etre of the characters. The love story is spiced with memorably original scenes of dancing on a till, moisturising the boss’s legs, a surprise shoot-out at a pool, demonstration of a secret treasure and long sex scenes which make the audience feel like they are prying. Their mutual infatuation between Star and Jake is not just love for the sake of love but it also emphasises different aspects of power struggle, clashes between classes and the all-encompassing yearning for financial freedom. Love in “American Honey” is intricately intertwined with the world around it which makes it an emotionally charged social commentary of a very pleasing kind.

“American Honey” is an underdog of a musical which looks deep into the heart of what it means to be here and now. It is a film about the youth, their struggles and the escape they find in music. The problems are real but the characters approach them with the nonchalant detachment which comes part and parcel with lack of experience. America and its dream become a distant view from the bus window and a room in a cheap hotel. It might not be a terribly fetching view but it is timely and beautiful in its tiny details and puny victories. They might be in the gutter not looking at the stars, but they know how to appreciate the very moment they are in. 

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 “Midnight Special" D: Jeff Nichols S: Jeff Nichols C: Adam Stone C: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Jaeden Lieberher, Adam Driver, etc.
The fanfares around the arrival of “Midnight Special” construed it as the alternative sci-fi of the year. Though enjoyably atmospheric and with a consistent pace, the story fails to deliver a thrill to write home about.

As the curtains unfold, the viewers find themselves in the middle of a chase scene. Plunged right into the plot, snippets of the backstory are cautiously fed to the audience throughout the film in a way which may seem as overly structured. Two guys and an extraordinarily talented child are trying to outrun a myriad of enemies ranging from the FBI to members of a religious cult. The initial yearning to understand and catch every smallest bit of dialogue soon fades as the realisation dawns that the caginess is just a formal device to shroud the empty shell of a plot behind the convenient confines of mystery. The viewers are left to rummage around the darkness most of the time, creating a feeling reminiscent to the creeping uncertainty exuding from Denis Villeneuve’s “The Enemy”. This does not necessarily signal failure as these sentiments (even if they are overlong) can lead to a skilfully creative and necessarily vague ending as in the case of the film mentioned before. The architectural marvel in the end of “Midnight Special”, however, did not pack the necessary punch to stun, explain or make up for the hard detective work which was required from the audience during the preceding two hours. Simplistic bleary-eyed awe for the visual fails to quench the thirst for some sort of an explanation which the film had been building up to. There is potential meat on the bones of this story but for reasons unknown, the more interesting facets like the cult storyline or explaining the complex emotional landscapes of the characters beyond just being moody for the sake of atmosphere remain mere sideshows.

Despite all that, the film excels in creating an atmosphere fitting to the chilling uncertainty of a sci-fi. The yellow-tinged dark colour scheme fits well with the grimy hotel rooms and the gloomy situation. The consistently good soundtrack enforces the supernatural tinge of the story without ever overtaking. And the nostalgic glimmer of the “cinema of wonder” which is used in abundance adds a certain je ne sais quoi by paying homage to the history of the genre. The atmosphere keeps the pace and holds your attention throughout the road trip into the unknown, it is just a shame that the destination fails to enthral.

“Midnight Special” portrays a vaguely explained mysterious escape involving some undefined paranormal powers. Backstories, intentions and explanations are put on the backburner to emphasise the eerie atmoshpere of the pursuit of the unknown. The crumbs which are fed to the audience do not nourish enough to keep the appetite, thus, as the mic drops, the climax feels stale and underwhelming. Low-key sci-fi has to stand out with its inventiveness to overwhelm an audience accustomed to high-end CGI. A moody plot resembling Mulder and Scully’s trip to Malick-land decorated by glorified lense blur falls short of the claim in the title – it might be as dark and gloomy as midnight but "special" can be contested. 






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 “The Nice Guys" D: Shane Black S: Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi C: Philippe Rousselot C: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, etc

The grimy carefree 70s meet Hollywood’s sweetheart Ryan Gosling and earnest leading man Russell Crowe in an appealing concoction of physical comedy and buddy film. And what a ride it is.

The plot – a raunchy who-dunnit involving two men and a “baby” in her preteens - is decorated with glimpses of originality and wit. There are serendipitous scenes which surprise and astonish with their uncompromised vision which is not afraid of breaking the rules of probability. For example, the opening car crash and later on, Holland March’s (Ryan Gosling) leap off the side of a hotel into a deep blue pool. There is a story to tell and the laws of physics and Murphy will not hinder the course of a great tale. These kind of conveniences do not feel misplaced or lazy because the two “heroes” are not even pretending to be in charge or having the upper hand (surprisingly, not even in the very end). The deer-in-the-headlights act is so enjoyable because it diffuses all pretentiousness which is a feat on its own taking into account that we are still dealing with two Hollywood megastars. Witty little details in the dialogue help as well – clever use of “equanimity” and word play with “porno young lady” are just a few examples of how writing helps to elevate the tone of this physical comedy. Slapstick can be an unrelenting lover (just ask Adam Sandler) but a clever mix of surprise, pacing and wit in “The Nice Guys” manages to make for a very enjoyable viewing.

Despite its many successes, “The Nice Guys” is not without a few faults. It remains unclear until the very end whether Kim Basinger’s Judith’s remarkably stiff performance was an out-of-place example of “Naked Gun” and “Airplane”-style deliberate comedic deadpan or just a casting misfire. Similarly, the character- and relationship-building scenes involving emotional growth feel crowbarred in to create a neat story arc. These stale old emotional narrative ploys seem superfluous in such a free-flowing and fresh film. It is also doubtful whether the brief stint to Gonzo territory in the form of an illusion of a human-sized rat in the backseat added anything to the tonal balance of the film. Not to mention the ending which just reeks of the money the lucrative sequel to “The Nice Guys” will make.

“The Nice Guys” has the oomph and down-to-earthness of “The Amazing Spiderman 2”, the clumsy charm of “Moonlighting” and the unexpected amusement of “Wolf of Wall Street”. Expressing emotion and showcasing character development is not its forte but the magnificently sincere fun to be had watching it will more than make up for it. Gosling and Crowe in a feather-light buddy comedy might sound like an unfunny April fools’ joke but this one is on us – they are simply marvellous.

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 “Age of Adaline" D: Lee Tolad Krieger S:  J. Mills Goodloe, Salwador Paskowitz, etc  C: David Lanzenberg C: Blake Lively, Michel Huisman, Harrison Ford, etc.

When you look at a description of a film which concentrates on Blake Lively in a perfect 50s hairdo called Adaline never ageing, you can already feel the treacle trickling down the screen. And the instincts are never completely wrong. Yes, there is a lot of dreamy dresses and kempt tresses, unrealistically exuberant family meetings and oodles of uncomplicated superficial love. The film never goes to the more interesting places of what Adaline thinks about the copious amounts of world she has seen in her lifetime but Blake Lively wears her obscurity well. Her reserved and muted acting results in marvellous old-school opacity and grace which diffuse the immediate need to know more.

There are moments where “Age of Adaline” becomes more than the light sum of its frothy parts. The ridiculous premise of a lady becoming immortal is explained in such ridiculous pseudo-scientific terms that you start suspecting a case of acute self-awareness. It is also read out by a voice sounding “too” serious, strangely reminiscent of the voice over from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Furthermore, the perfectly executed scenes between the young mother and old daughter point at a certain kind of courage to break the easy mould, even if it is a fleeting joy. Similarly, Harrison Ford does not disappoint and a few shots of Adaline through reflective car windows are reminiscent of the cinematography of "Carol". There are definitely moments to write home about and the surrounding seeming mediocrity makes them ever more special.

It’s not hard to exclude “Age of Adaline” before ever watching it. This certain model of the conventional whipped cream of an average romcom does have its unpredictable charms though. Blake Lively’s Adeline is enjoyably distant and there are glimpses of uncommon hues of meaning. A sumptuous dessert with strangely enjoyable after-taste.

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