Pretty Okay Vibrations

Movie Reviewed: Love and Mercy

Director: Bill Pohlad

Date: 3 May 2020

jamesintexas Rating: **1/2



Love and Mercy has beautiful moments, most of them the exuberant creation of the magical music of Brian Wilson's album "Pet Sounds," and Paul Dano does a terrific job showing Brian getting carried away with the songs in his head that translate into unforgettable and complete unique sounds.  The film is at its best during these sequences, sometimes with Pohlad panning the camera across the entire room to show what Brian and all of the different musicians are doing at one particular moment.  The musicians themselves play up the liveliness of Wilson's vision.  There is an energy and a crescendo of creation in these scenes that the rest of the movie just can't live up to as it aims to upend the traditional musician biopic format by splitting the role into two: Paul Dano for the 1960's era Wilson and John Cusack for the late 90's era Wilson.  To do something like this, instead of staying with one actor and using make-up, has to be done for a compelling reason, as does cutting back and forth from one story to the other as often as Love and Mercy does.  It is watchable for sure, as a relatively ignorant Beach Boys and Brian Wilson listener, someone who appreciates the hit songs but does not know the full story.  However, I just don't think that the film is greater than the sum of its parts here, and I left longing for the singular film that would have gone deeper into one chapter of Brian Wilson's incredible life and allowed the actors more to do and more screen time.

The film seems to never want to delve deeper than pointing out that Brian Wilson's father was an abusive, awful man who hurt his son physically and emotionally, abuse that is carried forward like a relay race baton by Dr. Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti, reprising a version of his slimy manger from Straight Outta Compton), a pseudo-doctor/manager in Brian's later years who kept him heavily medicated and tightly controlled.  I had so many questions about Brian's estrangement from his brothers and how things got to this dire point.  The film hints at such conflict but sidesteps the details, opting to leave it mysterious.  The film focuses on Brian's casual encounter with car saleswoman Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks) which sparks into a loving, genuine relationship; she is generally unaware of who he is and what parameters his life consists of now as he behaves a bit awkwardly and has a bodyguard follow him around. Melinda (and the audience) gradually uncovers the level of control that Landy has over all aspects of Brian's life.  Cross cut with the younger Brian fighting with his brothers and bandmates (and father), Love and Mercy is generally stronger at depicting Brian's eclectic music-making and painful struggles with hearing voices and mental illness in the earlier sections of the film.  The layering of the sounds and songs is quite brilliantly done by the film, even though it leaves major characters and questions unexplored and unanswered, like Brian's first wife, for instance, who is given next to nothing to do, sadly.  John Cusack is an actor that I like, and here he is forced to mostly play only a few notes: sluggish, spaced-out, drugged out, and fighting to swim to the surface.  Cusack is a capable actor, and even with the very good Banks at his side, he fails to capture my attention the way that Dano does.

In a depiction of a man putting himself out into the world again, the film modestly succeeds with showing Wilson's tentative steps with Melinda's love and guidance.  Undeniably, Wilson's music is so iconic and special, and treated as such here, and this film made me seek out "Pet Sounds" on Spotify to listen to and enjoy, as well as the song "Love and Mercy" which was new to me too and quite great.  Ultimately, I do not fully recommend this film, but it has its moments, and I can only marvel at the artistry and strength it took Brian Wilson to create such art in such conditions.  The world is a better place because of his iconic music and sounds.  He deserves a stronger movie.

That Wondrous Thing You Do!

Movie Reviewed: That Thing You Do!

Director: Tom Hanks

Date: 3 May 2020

jamesintexas Rating: ***1/2

Based on a comment in my favorite film podcast Battleship Pretension, I realized that I had never caught up with Tom Hanks's That Thing You Do! from fall of 1996.  I was a freshman at Kenyon College, miles away from a movie theater and car-less.  In fact, the big Kenyon Film Society field trip that January was to drive an hour into mid-Ohio to the Bexley Art Theater to see Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet.  But, I was immersing myself in film: Leaving Las Vegas and Dead Man Walking were the opening KFS film screening weekend in Rosse Hall.  But, I wasn't seeing many movies that were current until it was Thanksgiving Break or Christmas Break, so I missed this one completely and never caught up with it.  The release date was October 4th, 1996, and that's probably right around the All-Ohio Cross Country Meet in Delaware for the Kenyon Lords which was a huge part of my world (Ross, Mickey, Rudy, Jason, Dan, John, Brendan, Ryan, and Charlie), but I would like to think that I would have recognized and responded to the sheer exuberance and joyousness of this film.  There is an undeniable joy to this story, and it is lovingly told.

In Tom Hanks's directorial debut, the film depicts 1960's Erie, Pennsylvania as seen through the sunglasses of Guy Patterson (a winning Tom Everett Scott), a drummer who surreptitiously waits until the family appliance retail store that he works at is closed in order to practice his beats and dream of a day when he can perform in front of a crowd.  That day happens much sooner than expected due to a local group needing an emergency drummer because of a broken arm.  Guy joins the Oneders with Jimmy (Jonathon Schaech), Lenny (Steve Zahn), and The Bass Player (Ethan Embrey), as well as Faye (Liv Tyler), Jimmy's girlfriend and band's number one fan.  Their first gig explodes when Guy moves up the tempo on the eponymous "That Thing You Do!" much to the surprise of the band, but the crowd takes to it, jumping up out of their seats, dancing wildly, and generally grooving to the undeniably catchy song.  That song and set leads to a spot at a local Italian restaurant, a little bit of money, fans who follow them, and eventually, a manager in an RV.  The film moves effervescently from scene to scene, guided by the genuinely sweet performances by the leads who have an undeniable chemistry.  The film is very funny and warm, with the Oneders' good luck growing alongside their popularity.  They secure a record for their song, and when that song is first played on the local radio, their first time ever hearing themselves on the radio, the Oneders respond electrically, leaping out of cars in the middle of the street without shutting doors, blasting the song of every radio they can find in the appliance store, jumping up and down to it as parents and siblings look on in shock, basking in the moment of joy.  It is the best scene in a film of great scenes, and they quickly join forces with a savvy manager for a major record label, Mr. White (Tom Hanks), who steals nearly every scene he is in with his gruff and ruthless steering of their careers from state fairs to Hollywood; he christens them The Wonders, and seems above the silliness while appreciating it from a distance or at least coolly being able to size up what will probably happen to them.  "Watch the shelf," he remarks, adjusting his hair while The Wonders celebrate their single's rise up the chart. 

The film takes a recognizable trajectory with inevitable conflicts that arise from within the band and outsiders.  Yet, Hanks steers the film ably, making everything connect organically, from Guy's hero worship of famous musicians and getting to meet them to Lenny's wonderful embracing of the chaos of stardom, driving to Las Vegas with his new girl.  Lead singer Jimmy remains aloof and a bit of a mystery, and the film swerves into a last-minute romance that it may or may not earn, but the film savors its performances, lets its characters breathe and laugh and cry with each other, and has undeniably catchy music from the late Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne, who recently passed away due to COVID-19.  Hanks dabbled in some songwriting as well to capture the early 60's vibe of the film. 

I remember some of the first times that I ever saw my name in print, and though there is no equivalent to hearing your song on the radio, walking into Peirce Hall at Kenyon during the Fall of 1997 as a sophomore and seeing my film preview of Miller's Crossing in the stacks and stacks of The Kenyon Collegian newspaper was a memorable moment for me.  It was not quite seeing people rush the stage and mob you, but a satisfaction and a joy that had been building since I started reading Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel in middle school and wanting to be a film reviewer.  In the last decade, I had the privilege of being published in Cinespect (now defunct) and the great Battleship Pretension, both amazing and generous opportunities to share my voice with other people to get their reactions.  I still get a little bit of that rush when a friend comments on a film that I have loved with their own take, continuing the conversation, making me feel engaged in this world of art and artists.  That Thing You Do! earns its exclamation point, and I am forever indebted to Tyler and David from Battleship Pretension for steering me towards it during the quarantine.  If you need some joy in your life, borrow two hours of it from Tom Hanks, the impressive cast, and the catchy music of That Thing You Do!  Heck, I would listen to Battleship Pretension too.

And, it bears repeating, but Tom Hanks is and remains a national treasure.  I am glad he is recovered from COVID-19.  I am so glad to have grown up with him in films and pop culture, from Dragnet to Philadelphia, from Forrest Gump to Captain Phillips, from his advocacy for World War 2 veterans to David S. Pumpkins.  Seeing him host Saturday Night Live again and knowing that his light is still shining brings me hope.  Here's to many, many more Tom Hanks movies and appearances.

Trolls World Tour: A good man in a storm

Movie Reviewed: Trolls World Tour

Director: Walt Dohrn and David P. Smith

Date: 10 April 2020

jamesintexas Rating: **1/2



Great art can come from anywhere and everywhere, catching us with its surprise, its beauty, its resonance.  I think back to the first lightning bolt of hearing Fiona Apple's voice sing "Shadowboxer" when my 20th Century Novel & Politics class at Kenyon met for class in the Red Door Cafe or the thrill I experienced yesterday when a friend sent me a link to the NPR listening party for Apple's new album (and masterpiece) "Fetch the Bolt Cutters."  The much-talked about films Moonlight and Parasite took my breath away, as did seeing La La Land, so close after the 2016 Election, where it felt like a tonic of elegiac hope.  I was caught unawares by Call Me By Your Name, with its devastating final conversations and concluding, lingering shot as well as Sufjan Stevens' haunting music.  Sometimes, I go into a movie excited and anticipating because of the stars, the director, the subject matter.  I'm hungry for the last Daniel Craig James Bond film, now delayed as so much of our world is.  I'm eager to see what Don Winslow's books look like in a film or television series; I am watching Twin Peaks finally now approximately thirty years after I first saw it on my parents' television and was curious about it.  Trolls, the first film, though no epic and challenging work of art, held no such sway over me when it first came out.  As a parent, some films feel inevitable because they are geared at the right demographic: little kids who love everything.  I neither grew up with Trolls or cared for their world, cynically seeing the film as a cash grab.  I could not have been more wrong.  Crafted with great love and care, that film surprised me with its silliness, its slightly menacing environment of cruel Bergens and carnivorous plants, its plucky and sincere heroine Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and the cantankerous, gloomy Branch (Justin Timberlake), along with a panoply of wacky, colorful side characters, culminating in the irrepressible joy of "Can't Stop The Feeling!"  There was a little bit of Cyrano de Bergerac, with the Trolls as matchmakers, thrown in as King Gristle (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and Bridget (Zooey Deschanel) fall for each other.  It was a joyous, surprisingly sweet story that because my kids Gus and Noli fell in love with it, I watched over and over and over.  And it held up and never seemed tiresome.  It was a surprise.

For Trolls World Tour,  lightning does not strike twice.  I am so thankful and appreciative that the film was available to rent and stream, and $20 during these times is a very affordable price to pay for the excitement of sitting down as a family to watch a new film with some beloved characters and an excess of glitter.  And, 48 hours with Trolls World Tour translated into a solid seven viewings of this film (don't judge my parenting).  So, I came back to it many times, dipping in and out of the film after the initial viewing.  And, it just does not capture the magic; Trolls World Tour feels overstuffed and scattered.  It has moments that are fun and almost great, but the film lacks what made the original so special. 

Here, Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom), a Rock-n-Roll Troll, dedicates herself to smashing up the other musical traditions in the Troll universe (Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop, and Rock) and stealing the sacred strings that are the keys to musical harmony.  Queen Poppy undertakes a quest to make friendship with Barb and save their Pop Universe, and the resulting journey with Branch takes them to visit these different musical landscapes in service of uniting against Barb and preserving their own respective musical traditions.  Along the way, Branch has to negotiate his growing love for Poppy and telling her, while Cooper (Ron Funches) undergoes a journey to understand his own origins as an outsider.  Barb is fun in moments because she is not a true villain; she just wants to rock, loves her dad King Thrash (Ozzy Osbourne), and feels more misguided and myopic than misanthropic and malevolent.  I mean, she has a best friend named Carol whom she affectionately shouts out as Carol sprawls out on the couch eating Cheese Whiz from the can!  Growly Pete is a highlight from the Country universe of Lonesome Flats ruled by the fun Delta Dawn (Kelly Clarkson), with a pointed (and very dark) song about life being all about death.  There's pokes at Smooth Jazz and Yodeling and inevitable showdowns representatives of Reggaeton and K-Pop.  There's a grating number of quick musical medleys from the Spice Girls to Deee-Lite, from "Barracuda" to "Rock You Like a Hurricane," narrowly defining both Pop and Rock.  The stakes build to a giant musical epiphany which hinges on...gumdrops?  The final song does not overpower and bind the film the way Timberlake's "Can't Stop The Feeling!" did in the original, which in a film dedicated to celebrating music is a problem.  As a whole, Trolls World Tour is expansive and grander but feels less heartfelt than I wanted.  Queen Barb says at one point, "Friendship takes time and years of mutual care and respect," and I think the same goes for a great movie.  It feels rude to ding this movie for having five screenwriters but that tends to make it feel assembled and less unified; it just was not as much fun as it could have been, though the animation and color is often eye-popping and gorgeous.  I like that both films end in conversations and changes and friendship, not violent combat.

That being said, as Fiona Apple sings, "Sebastian said, 'I'm a good man in a storm,'" and it makes me think that is so in this stormy time; I am filled with gratitude for the chance to see a new movie that is dependable and entertaining and innocuous.  It is "a good man in a storm."  It never dwells in rudeness or unseemliness, is completely family friendly, and is fun in moments: burgers singing, Cloud Guy's opening narration, and a late cameo that makes me miss two characters from the first film even more.  The instantly iconic Tiny Diamond (Kenan Thompson) needs his own movie.  Country rescuer Hickory is voiced by a laconic Sam Rockwell, and George Clinton and Mary J. Blige arrive in the Land of Funk and state, "Denying our differences means denying what makes us human."   A few moments of wonderful weirdness come from Mr. Dinkles (one sequence particularly takes me back to Kenny in South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut), and anytime the plants and sun in the background can get in on the action and act out a bit, the film improves.  But this is not a good movie.  It is something that I am glad we saw, and I am even more glad that it expired after 48 hours and seven viewings.  It is a brisk ninety minutes.  Our family liked returning to this world, even though it was one of diminishing returns. 

Gus said, "The Heart Lesson is that even if you're different, you still matter," which fits, and you could really do a lot worse with a Heart Lesson from a children's movie.  Noli said, "Oh My!" at least seven times, which is her new expression that I love. 

Regardless, Trolls World Tour is the second best movie of 2020.

First Film of 2020: Onward and Upward

Movie Reviewed: Onward

Director: Dan Scanlon

Date: 5 April 2020

jamesintexas Rating: ***

"Long ago, the world was full of wonder.  It was adventurous.  It was exciting.  And most of all, there was magic."  We looked forward to some magic for probably two weeks when Disney+ announced that Onward would be on their channel streaming on April 3rd.  I made some homemade pizzas; we set up on the couch with popcorn and M&M's, with an eager Gus (6) and Noli (4).  Since we won't be going to the movies in the near future, Friday Movie Night was a big deal.  And Pixar, always dependable, delivered Onward, a very sweet, clever, solid family film that we have watched four more times since Friday night.

Set in a magical world where the magic has somewhat faded and tarnished, a place where unicorns are more apt to hiss at each other and fight over grazing out of trash cans than majestically soar the skies, young elves Ian (Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Pratt) are brothers who live with mom Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and miss their dad Wilden, who passed away before Ian was ever able to meet him.  Ian wakes up to his sixteenth birthday, pulls his dad's college sweatshirt on, and takes tentative steps towards friendship and independence while being thwarted by his own emotions (and sometimes, Barley). Barley, the older more gregarious brother, drives a van named Guinevere and is obsessed with magic lore and minutia; he serves as Ian's foil, but both receive a special gift from their dad that Laurel had stashed away in the attic until both boys were sixteen: a wooden staff with a spell promising a way for the dad to return.  Something goes awry, and the magic brings back only half of the dad, the bottom half.  The brothers (and half-dad) embark upon a quest to locate a magical stone that can finish the spell because it only lasts for 24 hours, meaning dad will totally disappear in that amount of time.  Laurel takes off after them, engaging in her own quest that leads her to join forces with the Manticore (Olivia Spencer), a once lauded warrior now the owner of a Medieval Times-ish Chuck E. Cheese restaurant.  There are biker fairies, a centaur police stepdad, many magical spells, homages to Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, and a journey faced with traps and gauntlets as they work together to complete the quest.

Onward presents a fun world, one steeped in nods to The Lord of The Rings and Dungeons &  Dragons.  There is no real antagonist, which is refreshing, and the dad only being able to communicate with his feet ends up being really charming.  It is funny, not hilarious.  This is minor Pixar, and Scanlon directed Monsters University, a film that I would also include under that banner.  It is enjoyable with its focus on brotherhood, as well as two strong female co-leads in Laurel and The Manticore who prove very much up to the tasks of the quest.  The idea of speaking with your heart's fire is a fun conceit that rings true, and in general, Onward is such a warm, family-friendly film.  Gus said, "I like that it was not too scary," which I agree with, though I loved a surprise monstrous creation at the film's end, complete with a wonderful brick body, smiling face, and school bell ringing as part of its roar.  Blazey, Ian's pet dragon, seems like a relative of Randall from Monsters, Inc. and needs his own film.  Onward handles Ian's epiphany with a quick montage of memories from the film and earlier, with a dawning realization about his older brother which I found quite moving.  Maybe I was not as blown away by this world as I was by Nemo's or Sully and Mike's.  But I left with real admiration for the work of such caring, thoughtful storytellers.


My favorite film critic Roger Ebert said, "It's not what a movie is about; it is how it is about it."  Onward has a sweet, straightforward grace to it that makes it avoid meanness and cynicism.  It shows brothers who love each other, a mom willing to battle to let her kids get their chance to fulfill the quest, with everyone knowing that it won't totally dissolve pain.  Its characters cannot reverse the death of a loved one.  Instead, they just want to hold onto them for one day more, to give one more hug, to share one more lame joke.  There are many people that I wish I had one more day with: my grandparents, Mrs. K., Mr. Newton, Doc Caso, Phil Church, Roy Wortman.


Last, Gus says, "I love it so much because there was a dragon.  It made me think of my family.  It made me feel happy and a little scared."  Noli says, "I liked it very, very, very much.  So many.  Only the legs of their dad!"  Like so many, we are looking forward to when we can go back to watching movies in theaters as well.  Until then, this family will speak with our heart's fire, stay inside, and watch Onward.

Driving and Deejays, Revisionist Hollywood Fantasy mixed with Butch & Sundance: Once Upon A Time...

Movie Reviewed: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Date: 23 August 2019

jamesintexas Rating: ***1/2



Someone keyed Vincent Vega's car.  "I wish I woulda caught him doing it," he mused to his cereal-eating buddy Lance.  "I'd a given anything to have caught him doing it."  Wish fulfillment of this kind seems at the heart of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and in truth, much of Tarantino's cannon from 2009 onward.  In his ninth film, Quentin Tarantino aims his camera at Southern California in 1969 with fading television actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his driver/stunt man/best friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) driving towards the uncertain future together in a changing world most eerily personified by the cult of Charlie Manson, hippies, and changing times.

The film takes its time showing us this world with plenty of focus being on the daily grind of television work for Rick as he struggles with his own fading star and unfortunate choices, some of which have led him down the road to guest spots as the villain, no longer himself the lead.  DiCaprio, unseen in films since his Oscar win, shines most brightly in these long scenes of Rick rehearsing his lines, fumbling them on set, berating himself in his trailer, attempting to right the course.  Rick drinks too much and finds himself adrift.  However, his friendship with Cliff seems to be a saving grace, with Cliff being a sort of superhuman savior figure, capable of all kinds of feats from Parkour to engaging one-on-one with Bruce Lee.  Cliff picks up hitchhiker Pussycat (Margaret Qualley) and drives us into the film's most menacing set piece, a long visit to the Spahn movie ranch inhabited by the hippies that slowly heightens the tension with Cliff exploring their takeover of a once familiar place for him.  On some level, that is an idea that Tarantino is concerned with: time advancing on these main characters in an uncontrollable, unstoppable way.  Their navigation of that knowledge becomes the heart of the film, which also seeks to lovingly show the beauty of the cars, fashion, and neon lights of Hollywood being turned on in one particularly memorable sequence.  Tarantino uses more overhead shots in this film than in any of his others, giving the audience views of these characters as small and at the mercy of unseen forces to be sure.  One shot that takes us over the Van Nuys Drive-In is breathtaking.

There is a longing, wistful, elegiac quality to the film, much of which is wrapped up in the audience knowing the fate of Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) at the hands of Manson's minions.  Tarantino seems most focused on the idea of Sharon Tate as wide-eyed innocent, purchasing first editions of Thomas Hardy for her husband Roman Polanski, getting caught up in the joy of seeing her name on a marquee, listening to an audience laugh at her performance.  Robbie is such a capable, strong actress that it is impossible to not want her character to have more to do and say. 

An eruption of violence proves not just unsettling but deeply shocking.  Like a key death in Inglorious Bastards, Tarantino revels in showing us the violence and having us navigate the rush of seeing it, the deserving of it, and the its utter brutality.  I'm still uncertain how to feel about it.

Here's what I liked.  Tarantino has gone back to the beginning, paying homage to his own use of Stephen Wright as the voice of 'The Super Sounds of the 70's' in Reservoir Dogs; here, he is employing his soundtrack of distinctive songs complete with SoCal deejays offering the slice of life from the time, from ads for tanning butter to high school reunions, from the escalating war in Vietnam to movie spots, all delivered in iconic cadence.  Tarantino's work for me becomes a sort of narrative loop because I find myself immersed in noticing not just the connections among his films but the way the ending reminds me of, say, Jackie Brown, or noticing the Jules and Vincent opening conversation of Pulp Fiction echoing in three would-be killers about to do the deed.  The very final conversation of the film has a sort of sweetness and sadness that lingers for sure with its mundane, everyday, nice qualities that cannot help but be juxtaposed with what we know to be true.

It is 2019.  I've been watching Quentin Tarantino films since 1992 when a WLS Chicago radio guy named Jay Marvin started playing dialogue clips of Harvey Keitel and espousing the gospel of renting Reservoir Dogs, which I did from Nu-Time video.  Tarantino's voice emerges this summer in an original story aimed at adults that wrestles with how narratives interact with facades as well as aging.  The film has its flaws, and yet it has haunted me and lingered with me, not the least of which is its impressive soundtrack.  In a way, we have watched latter-day Tarantino engage in the highest level of revisionist history in the last ten years with several of his films, with the death of Hitler, the revenge of Django upon the slave owning infrastructure of Candy Land, and now this film.  How can artists use narrative to shape the world into an alternative future is clearly something that Tarantino wants to hold onto with his distinct visual flair and panache.  The world may be changing, but his voice has been a constant and should be for years to come.  And, I'm deeply thankful for Jay Marvin playing those clips so many years ago.

Smart Fun

Movie Reviewed: Booksmart

Director: Olivia Wilde

Date: 6 June 2019

jamesintexas Rating: ***1/2



Booksmart has a visual style and palpable energy that propels it all the way to the finish line.  Set on the eve of graduation, Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) are top students at their high school who discover a terrible truth: they've been working too hard and eschewing fun while their peers have enjoyed themselves.  Instead of receiving their coveted reward of college acceptances over their hedonistic peers, Amy and Molly realize that many of their classmates earned spots at the same schools as them, without sacrificing as much.  This epiphany leads to a last-ditch effort to go to a party to show their peers and themselves that they can be both smart and fun.  They go off in search of the legendary party, and chaos predictably ensues.  Essentially, this is an all-in-one-night type of movie, and Wilde quickly and effectively establishes a comic, memorable, distinct series of personalities within their class to keep circling back to and enjoying.

The film is so enjoyable because of its winning lead performances, its fun use of music and editing, and its quick-moving plot.  Wilde's directorial debut is astounding in its confidence.  The supporting performances of Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte as Amy's loving parents are standouts, but nearly every supporting character in the HS senior class given screen time delivers a memorable performance, with Noah Galvin's legendary karaoke session winning out overall.  I think that one subplot involving a student and teacher is superfluous, but the fun of the rest of the film overcomes that flaw.  Dever and Feldstein are wonderful together with a shorthand that makes the film work.  I think of this film primarily as a comedy, and I applaud its marvelous cast for going to great lengths to make an R-rated comedy, a thing that feels increasingly rare to me.  I think that is probably what elevates it from just three stars for me.  It has heart for these characters, and Wilde's work here is sure and steady.  From animation to slow-motion sequences, her storytelling is compelling and dynamic and fun.  I think that Booksmart deserves to find a bigger audience, and I look forward to more films from Wilde and her stars Dever and Feldstein. 

Star Struck: A Star is Born and Shines.

Movie Reviewed: A Star is Born

Director: Bradley Cooper

Date: 13 October 2018

jamesintexas rating: ***1/2

"Maybe it's time to let the old ways die / Maybe it's time to let the old ways die / It takes a lot to change a man / Hell, it takes a lot to try / Maybe it's time to let the old ways die" -Jackson Mayne

Maybe it's time to start thinking of Bradley Cooper as a nuanced, emotive director as well as a phenomenal actor/raccoon voice.  A Star is Born, a familiar story that has been filmed before though unfamiliar to me, arrives fully formed and beautiful, deeply moving and sad, with performances that are memorable and songs that are haunting. Cooper stars as Jackson Mayne, an alcoholic declining country star who drunkenly wanders into a drag bar after a show and is struck by the voice and performance of "La Vie En Rose" by the remarkable Ally (Lady Gaga); the two form an instant connection and spark which leads to a long night together of talking and bonding.  Cooper wisely lets this section of the film breathe: the connection of one artist with another, both at different ends of the spectrum of success. Jackson (now, Jack) extends an offer to Ally to join him on the next stage of his tour, and though she returns home that morning without accepting it, she is nonetheless intrigued, attracted to, and excited by the possibility of this opportunity.

A word about Ally.  Her balancing of her work as a server and her performing is quickly sketched as well as her having a dynamite introductory shot and scene.  The camera lingers on her walk past the garbage dumpster at work, ascending the long tunnel leading up to the street and to the light, and Cooper includes this shot later when Ally has made the pivotal decision to go see Jackson's tour.  Ally's home life is rendered through her relationship with her father Lorenzo (Andrew Dice Clay), a limo driver with a phalanx of well-dressed older men all sitting around the kitchen table drinking coffee and providing a sort of Greek chorus.  Lorenzo's love for his daughter is palpable and restrained, and though Dice Clay is known for his bombast and over-the-top theatrics, here he proves reliably touching and human, evoking his great work in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.  He urges his daughter to think about this moment and offer.  Cooper chooses to focus a bit more on his character, which left me hungering for more of Ally, Ally and her best friend Rez, and Ally and her dad.  Lady Gaga owns the film and could inhabit even more of it.

The film carries Ally to the concert and sweeps her onstage in my favorite sequence.  Jack provides a platform and a microphone for her, and the camera stays directly on a close-up shot of Ally's face, depicting the emotions of terror, nervousness, exhilaration, and joy from this moment.  For me, it was the most affecting moment of the film, capturing both the minute and epic nature of this decision to walk forward and to seize one's destiny.  Jackson and Ally become lovers, and they experience the roller coaster of her rising career and his diminishing one. 

Jacks tangles with his manager older brother Bobby (Sam Elliot) and wells of deep pain related to his own upbringing and relationship with his father.  As his drinking and addiction spiral, Ally contends with her own values and integrity. What kinds of songs does she want to sing? What image does she want to project out onto the world? What does success mean?  Lady Gaga is completely up to the task of playing this marvelously strong and complex woman; she should be Oscar-nominated at least twice for Best Actress and Best Song.  Dave Chapelle, Ron Rifkin, and Anthony Ramos all have wonderful scenes playing off of the leads.  The performances in general are heartfelt and strong, a clear strength of Cooper's work behind the camera.  Scenes between Cooper and Elliot are heartbreaking and tense and gruffly restrained, in one case with the camera leaving Jack behind and traveling with Bobby in the car, focusing on the tears in his eyes as he drives away.  The ocean of pain between them is evoked without too much telling of its specifics: jealousy, generational conflict, and a heartbreaking relationship with their father.

And the music!  The film lives by its music, and I found it completely compelling. From a drag bar to a quiet parking lot, from a concert to Saturday Night Live, the film showcases a panoply of performances, virtuosity from Lady Gaga and grizzled gravitas from Bradley Cooper.  Ultimately, the film lingers on its sadness, an elegiac study of fame and success.  The inverse of A Star is Born is A Star is Dying, and for some reason, the study of two people connecting as their life paths cross for a little while is exceedingly more powerful because of the juxtaposition.  The film leans into its own sadness and seriousness throughout, never descending into melodrama.  I feel and hope that people will be talking about this film and all of its achievements for a long, long time, especially come Oscar-season.  I loved this film.

"I'm glad I can't go back to where I came from / I'm glad those days are gone, gone for good / But if I could take spirits from my past and bring 'em here / You know I would / Know I would" -Jackson Mayne