Between the time I saw the first of these movies and finished the last of them, the movie industry was dead, saved, and probably died again with each week being a coin toss as to where the story will go next. Perhaps it’s best that I didn’t have time to get to them right away, and in doing so avoided the box office drama that surrounded each new release. I certainly don’t have anything interesting to add to that conversation as I’m just here to watch the movies, but I’m sure that’s why you’re here as well, so let’s not waste any more time and dive right in!
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Monkey Man
Monkey Man is by Universal Pictures
Directed by Dev Patel
In the roughest part of a city of Yatana, you will find several less than savory characters; some in the rich cocaine dens run by the upper crust of society and others in the dingy arenas where fighters pulverize each other for cash. One such fighter is a man known as Kid (Dev Patel) who fights as the Monkey Man so that he can buy the tools he needs to exact vengeance on the rich and powerful who destroyed his childhood village and murdered his mother. Nothing is as simple as it seems, however, as the corruption that led to this slaughter goes to the highest peaks of India’s government, and none of them are going to stand for this forest brat tearing through their carefully laid plans to run the country. Will our hero bring down the system as an act of divine justice, or will his single-minded quest for blood only lead him to his own grave?
Dev Patel has definitely earned his Thespian stripes in recent years with a series of indie dramas and the bizarre art piece that was The Green Knight, and while it does feel like something of a swerve for his directorial debut to be a John Wick knock-off, he does fill it with enough stylistic flair to find a niche separate from its influences. It’s a movie that’s less about its plot and more about the details, with the setting playing as much a role in this movie as any of its characters. Some of it will perhaps be lost on Western audiences who aren’t familiar with India’s political landscape or economic situation, and I’m counting myself among those who are ignorant of these topics, but Patel fills the scenes with enough life and interesting side characters that it’s easy enough to slip into the world with Kid serving as our guide throughout it. Still, if there’s any area where the movie feels underwhelming, it’s with a few of the characters who are well drawn to fit the archetype or class of person that they need to represent, but don’t have much going on beyond that. The big bad at the end of the movie is almost a throwaway character; not for being unimportant to the overall plot as he’s the one pulling the strings and is most emblematic of the criticism Patel is leveraging against India’s government, but because the movie is simply not as concerned with his actions as they are with the secondary villain who gets far more screen time and is directly involved with the tragedy that sent Kid on his path of vengeance. The film makes a game attempt at melding social commentary with a classic revenge story, but there’s an obvious tension between the two that the film never fully resolves. Thankfully, the action is able to pick up the slack in the film’s narrative, and Patel has thrown himself into the role with a fiery passion. Physical roles like this can be quite taxing on an actor, especially one who’s not used to these kinds of roles, so the fact that he manages to look convincing throughout is impressive to say the least. I suppose my final thoughts on this is that it’s about as good as any number of action films that have tried to recapture the magic of John Wick; including the John Wick sequels. In some respects, this is a bit disappointing as Patel is clearly shooting for this to be an elevation of the genre given its themes and social commentary, but then again, how many first time directors can pull off action this good, both in front of and behind the camera?
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The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy is owned by Universal Pictures
Directed by David Leitch
Seasoned stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is living his best life; jumping through glass, falling off buildings, being set on fire, and he’s also dating the up-and-coming cinematographer Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) whose big break is just around the corner. Sadly, the life of a stuntman is not all fun and games as Colt has a serious accident that puts him out of action, and he pushes everyone away in the process. He’s given one last chance when the stunt coordinator (Winston Duke) brings Colt back into the fray to work on Jody’s first feature; a ludicrous sci-fi epic starring megastar and jerkwad Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Perhaps this is the chance Colt needs to get his life back in order, but that’s all put in jeopardy when Tom disappears which threatens to shut down production on Jody’s film, so Colt is recruited by the film’s producer (Hannah Waddingham) to find him and discretely drag him back to set. Can Colt prove himself to be the right man for the job, or will the anxieties that drove Jody away in the first place keep him from salvaging this second chance?
The Oscars have always had a problem with inclusion; not just in its leadership and nominees, but in its chosen categories. There have always been pushes to have new awards for aspects of production that don’t get the recognition that they deserve, with a Stunt Performers category being one of the more noteworthy examples. Director David Leitch has been at the forefront of this campaign and seemingly made an entire movie to make his point, and while the dedication is admirable, I can’t say that he made a movie that’d be worthy of such an award. Oh sure, the film is a lot of fun and the stunts are show-stealers, but the plot leaves a lot to be desired and there’s simply not enough weight or tension to the proceedings for the action to stand out among its peers. Thankfully, the movie is held up by its two leads as the central narrative is not so much a murder mystery or a tale of mistaken identity, but a love story. Gosling does a good job eking out moments of vulnerability through his dopey exterior and, and while Emily Blunt has to be the more reactive of the two, they have a solid chemistry that keeps the film charming even when it’s not overly exciting. There’s an interesting dynamic at play between the two where they both occupy familiar roles in these kind of romantic action films, but the power balance is entirely inverted. Instead of a competent professional woman being swept away by a dashing action star, it’s the action star who must grow and change to be noticed by the competent woman which was an interesting twist on the material even if the film doesn’t quite give it enough space to fully develop. Now obviously a movie about a bumbling stuntman in way over his head is not going to have the same tone or stylistic sensibilities of a John Wick, or I guess Monkey Man, so the action is more comedic than it is dangerous by design. In fact, the absurdity of the situations feels like jokes in and of themselves, but where I can only assume they wanted audiences to cheer at their wanton abandonment of reality and consequences, it left me feeling a little nonplussed as events didn’t seem to matter all that much and any amount of damage can be simply shaken off. It’s certainly made by and for stuntmen, though I’d be curious if general audiences grasped that nuanced which makes it feel a little self-indulgent, but it’s still a solid movie. There’s nothing that truly makes it stand out beyond its unique stuntman-first filmmaking, but that’s at least something of a unique selling point for those who have always wanted to see that.
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I Saw the TV Glow
I Saw the TV Glow is owned by A24
Directed by Jane Schoenbrun
Like many kids in the mid-nineties, Owen (Justice Smith and Ian Foreman) is stuck with nothing to do at the end of history other than go to school and not talk to people. Thankfully, he finds Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) who is someone who’d also rather be by themselves and the two decide to be lonely together and start bonding over a shared appreciation for The Pink Opaque; a cheesy teen supernatural show with Power Rangers monsters and Buffy melodrama. As the years go by, neither seem to have found what is wrong with them and Maddy eventually runs away; leaving Owen alone to fight this battle alone until Maddy shows back up several years later with a disturbing discovery. What it is that’s trying to escape from Owen, and could the Pink Opaque give him the answers he’s seeking? Where did Maddy go when she finally left home, and what secrets did she learn out there in the real world?
This has been getting a lot of praise all year for its involving narrative and relatable characters, and while that’s mostly true, I’m reluctant to be as enthusiastic with my recommendation. Now, I am certainly not the target audience for this movie, but I still feel at least somewhat confident in saying that I get what the movie is trying to do. There are things about this that I didn’t enjoy, though it seems that those are what makes it so engaging to a lot of people out there, which at least puts us all on more or less the same page even if we disagree on whether we liked it or not. It has an interesting setup with some really fun stylistic touches throughout, and the meta-story of the TV show within the movie is genuinely entertaining in how well it nails a particular era of sci-fi television. The budding relationship between Owen and Maddy is well realized with both actors playing Owen and Brigette Lundy-Paine turning in great performances despite their characters being so understated, which, combined with the film’s overall aesthetic, gives the sense of impending doom just outside the margins of the camera that they can see yet can’t do anything about. Ultimately, however, the movie is meditative, somber, and disappointing in the way that life is for a lot of people who know what Owen is going through. Its authenticity is undeniable and genuinely captures the tragic lived experiences of a lot of people in the queer community, but as entertainment I found a story about such disappointment to be… well, disappointing. It’s not just that there isn’t a happy ending; it’s that there isn’t much of an ending at all. It feels intentionally unwilling to give us closure or to pay off the movie’s increasingly twisted narrative with any sort of catharsis or closure for the characters. There are wonderful moments of tension throughout, both spooky and interpersonal, and I feel the movie peaks about twenty minutes before it ends with its disturbed warping of reality, but then the movie just doesn’t do anything about it; pulling back from the story’s climax to remind the audience that most of us aren’t willing to take such leaps and then muddles around for its actual conclusion. A denial of closure is a valid story choice and I suppose it is appropriate for the movie’s themes, but I didn’t find it as heartbreaking as I did exasperating, which left me very much on the fence about it when all was said and done. I’m ultimately more on the positive side than negative, as it was engrossing in its first two acts, but don’t be surprised if it loses you by the end.
The Reviewers Unite 