‘Tis The Season For Some Screenings Part 2

The holiday season may be over, but the season for catching up with movies from the previous year continues, sometimes long into the new year. This sequel to a post by the same title (except for the numbers) from last month, so there may be more entries. Now, I saw very few films in the theater, so these are reviews of three films I watched on DVD or Blu ray. Enjoy!

THE TENDER BAR (Dir. George Clooney, 2021) *

I’ve long maintained that Ben Affleck isn’t a bad actor, he’s just not a very interesting one. He’s a likable guy, unless you’re an avid tabloid reader, but he’s not a very compelling, or vital presence in many of his movies. Here, in George Clooney’s eighth film as Director, he puts in a fine performance as the wise, and wise-cracking Uncle Charlie, a mentor to the film’s protagonist J.R. Maguire (a self-consciously ernest Tye Sheridan).

In flashbacks, J.R. is played by Daniel Ranieri, while Ron Livingston narrates Wonder Years-style as an older J.R. Much of the story is centered around the Maguires Long Island home, where J.R.’s mother (Lily Rabe) brought her son to get away from her ex-husband/his ultra-unreliable father (Max Martini). 

 

And then there’s the always reliable Christopher Lloyd. The gruff iconic actor embodies Grandpa Maquire, who also doles out advice to the young J.R., as well as accompanying him to a father/son breakfast at school. Affleck’s Charlie works as a bartender at a pub named The Dickens, where Sheridan’s J.R. drinks with his Yale schoolmates. J.R. finds love and heartache with classmate Sidney (Briana Middleton), pursues his dream of being a writer, tries to deal with his deadbeat dad, and bonds further with Uncle Charlie.

Beyond those broad strokes, not much happens. The film, based on J.R. Moehringer’s autobiographical novel of the same name, goes through these familiar coming-of-age motions without a lot to say. THE TENDER BAR isn’t a bad movie, it’s just not a very interesting one.

* THE TENDER BAR is available streaming on Amazon Prime.

CYRANO (Dir. Joe Wright, 2021) **

While every adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac that I’m aware of presents its lead character with an abnormally large nose, this version features the protagonist as a four-foot, five-inch dwarf. Peter Dinklage and his normal-sized nose, reprises his starring role in the off-Broadway production in 2019, as does Haley Bennett as Cyrano’s love interest, Roxanne. 

As in every version, Cyrano pines for Roxanne, but believes his physical size makes it impossible for him to win her over. Cyrano masks his heartache with his quick wit, and sword-fighting skills, both of which Dinklage swiftly carries off. Dinklage comes close to carrying the entire film, if it wasn’t for the strong ensemble that includes Kelvin Harrison Jr., Bashir Salahuddin, and Ben Mendelsohn.

What I didn’t know going in is that this adaptation is a musical. Its score, and songs were largely composed by Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner and Matt Berninger of the Ohio rock band, The National. I like The National, but although there a few solid tunes, mostly the music is forgettable. Dinklage would be the first to admit that he’s no singer as well, but somehow he, again, carries it off. Director Joe Wright’s filmography is full of polished, elegant films, and CYRANO is no exception due to it being the fourth collaboration between Wright and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey. 

The screenplay, written by Erica Schmidt, who happens to be Dinklage’s wife, is faithful to the original story, but constructs its own framework of sharp dialogue, and pleasing poetic stances. Overall, I enjoyed CYRANO, but I don’t think that it’s the definitive version of the classic stage play (not that I’ve seen every other revamping, but Steve Martin’s 1987 take, ROXANNE, is probably my favorite). Dinklage is clearly the reason this film is worth seeing. As lovely as the rest of it is, it’s mere decoration for Dinklage’s irresistible performance.

** CYRANO is set to go into limited release in theaters next month on February 25th.

 

ATTICA (Dir. Stanley Nelson, 2021) ***

I first became aware of Stanley Nelson at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival some time ago. A number of his films, which for the most part deal with racial justice, have been a part of the long-running PBS program, American Experience. Nelson’s work is devoid of flashy stylistic packaging, which means that there aren’t animated segues, or glitzy graphics; they’re just collections of the most relevant footage of their subjects’ vital storylines, sometimes augmented with era-appropriate music. They’re bare bones and all the better for it. Nelson’s latest, ATTICA, is summed up in its opening text: “On September 9th, 1971, inmates at Attica, 20 miles from NYC, took over the prison.” 

PIXELS Is Lame, But Doesn’t Suck As Much As You’ve Heard

Opening today at a multiplex near all of us:

PIXELS (Dir. Chris Columbus, 2015)

So, PIXELS, the latest in a long line of crass comedies from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions, is a typically lame offering, but it really doesn't suck as much as the majority of critics are saying.

I mean, it currently holds an awful 12% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. C’mon! It deserves at least 30-something percent. *

PIXELS scores a few points by trying a little harder than Sandler’s largely crappy output of late (the GROWN UP series, THAT’S MY BOY, BLENDED, etc.) and it has a pretty promising premise – aliens attack earth in the form of ‘80s video games – which does at times add up into some genuinely enjoyable dumb fun.

There may be dragging stretches between those instances of amusement, and tons of lame jokes litter the landscape along with the pixilated carnage, but as a throwaway summer popcorn picture it’s actually almost passable.

Sandler, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage play former ‘80s arcade champions, who we meet as kids played by the well cast Anthony Ippolito, Jacob Shinder and Andrew Bambridge, in an opening flashback set in 1982. We also meet Jared Riley as the kid version of Kevin James’ character, who’s not a great gamer but is able to score a Chewbacca mask from the Claw Game.

In the intervening years, Sandler’s Sam Brenner grows up to be a schlubby Geek Squad-style media center installation guy, while his best friend, James’ Will Cooper (or “Chewie” to his friends) has gone on to be elected President of the United States.

When Austrialia gets invaded by an alien force resembling the game Galaga™, James recruits Sandler to use his gaming skills, which involve recognizing patterns, to help the army defeat the 8-bit menace. Gad, now a conspiracy theory buff, and a mulleted Dinklage, in prison for criminal hacking, are also called upon and before long they’re all wearing uniforms identified as “Arcaders.”

Michelle Monaghan as Lt. Colonel Violet van Patten, Sandler’s obvious love interest from the get go, is skeptical of the crew until they take down Centipede® in a battle in London’s Hyde Park.

The big showpiece is the showdown with Pac-Man™ in New York City. The Arcaders take on the role of the ghosts via brightly colored cars with their names (Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde) on their license plates. Pac-Man is his old yellow, recognizable self, albeit ginormous, who shocks Sandler and his creator, Denis Akiyama as Toru Iwatani (the real Iwatani has a cameo as a repairman), by being “a bad guy.”

PIXELS takes the aliens recreating our old pop culture premise from GALAXY QUEST mixes it with the satirical yet nostalgic take on arcade classics from the Reagan era of WRECK-IT RALPH, and then wraps it all up in GHOST BUSTERS packing of having lovable, schlubby underdogs overcoming supernatural odds to save the world from a dangerously silly threat. Oh, and there’s an added splash of THE KING OF KONG in there too – the posturing of Dinklage’s Donkey Kong champion more than a little resembles the arrogant Billy Mitchell in that compelling gaming doc.

It should also be mentioned that there’s an episode of Futurama, “Raiders of the Lost Arcade,” that shares the same premise, but the real inspiration, which is credited, is the French animated short “Pixels.” Nearly every visual gag in the short is redone in the movie – watch it here.

Scripted by longtime Sandler screenwriting pal Tim Herlihy, PIXELS has a decently dopey tone to it. It doesn’t care whether its jokes land, or its plot mechanics are transparent, it just wants to fuck around on its huge playset with all the props and memories of the overgrown man-children in its audience.

Unfortunately there are so many missed opportunities with this material that it’s a shame that like somebody like the retro-meta-mastermind team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (the 21 JUMP STREET movies, THE LEGO MOVIE) wasn’t hired to touch up the screenplay.

Like I said before, it’s pretty close to crappy (which could be said also of its cluttered cinematography), but not as interminable, soul crushing, or as painful as many critics are saying. It’s a mediocre attempt at a crowd pleaser that actually has some amusing moments. It just fits better into the “Sandler is so over” narrative that so many pop culture pundits have been selling lately to paint it as a big, stinky dud.

I can’t say I’d recommend it to anyone who’s not a big Sandler fan, or somebody who doesn’t say upfront that they like big, stupid movies, but if I were using a star rating system I’d give it two stars out of five for “doesn’t completely suck” (the other stars for the record: 1 star = “sucks,” 3 stars = “good,” 4 stars = “almost awesome,” and 5 stars = of course, “awesome”).

Oh, and I enjoyed the Q-Bert, and Max Headroom cameos too.

* The Rotten Tomatoes rating of 12% was what it was at when I originally wrote this review. It's now at 20%, so it's slowly inching it's way up as more reviews are posted. Maybe it'll make 30-something % yet.

More later...