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The Plot Against America (2020)
Great until the last episode
My wife, older son and I watched this with considerable interest, and as the tension built up through episode 5 we were full of anticipation of last night's final episode. Unfortunately it was a mess and resolved nothing. I won't go into detail, because I don't want to spoil the show for those who haven't seen it yet, but we found the final episode to be a disappointment. I don't mind counterfactual history; indeed, as a professional historian I rather like it. But in my view the creators of the show were wrong to change the constitution of the US in pursuit of a counterfactual dream. And they owed it to their viewers to reach some kind of conclusion.
Having said that, let me also say that I enjoyed Canada being presented as a haven for Jews while recognizing that this is as counterfactual as other aspects of the show. Anti-semitism in Canada in the early 1940s was at least as strong as it was in the US. Never mind: the show gave us good press. And it is true that thousands of Americans came to Canada from 1939 through 1941 to join the Canadian and British armed forces.
National Theatre Live: One Man, Two Guvnors (2011)
Some may like this; I thought it was far from amusing.
This is unquestionably the least funny "comedy" I have seen in a long time. Which is not to say that everyone will dislike it. Some of the acting was good. However, to get into this you probably have to be (a) English, preferably working class; (b) fully up on English slang; (c) thrilled by lewd jokes; d) a tad misogynistic.
I have enjoyed Goldoni's original play; I deplore what Bean has done with it. The humour, such as it is, is mostly of the lowest kind, complete with double-takes, winks and leers. The acting is correspondingly broad, making sure that everyone gets the "joke". The involvement of the audience is not itself off-putting, though I don't think it's anywhere near as amusing as some others evidently did, but it does slow the play down. I was bored and left before the end; others may enjoy this. Chaqu'un à son gout.
The Lobster (2015)
Confused and confusing
The movie begins quite intelligibly, though any intelligent viewer will soon begin to wonder how the basic directive is to be enforced without substantial armed force. As the film moves out of the hotel into the world outside, however, it becomes ever more confused and confusing.
The director seems to be making a fundamentally misanthropic statement: human relationships of love are either not possible or not permitted. I'm by no means sure that this is the director's intention or concept, however. The film reminds me of more than one opera I have seen on German stages, where the director dresses up an obscure concept with all kinds of strange touches whose purpose seems to be to mystify the audience. Some of the performances in this film are good, but as a whole "The Lobster" wastes those performances in the service of a seriously confused premise.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Well acted but the script is manipulative and implausible
Why many people think so highly of The Usual Suspetcs is a mystery. I'll give it 6 out of 10 because of some fine performances, most notably Kevin Spacey's, but as a whole the thing is a violence-filled mess. The ending simply does not follow from the film and seems to have been dragged in to resolve a problem that is not all that interesting to begin with. The editing is also confusing; without seeing it at least a second time it is hard to make sense of what has happened when. Throughout the film we are led to believe that the character played by Gabriel Byrne is central to the plot, only to discover at the end that he is not. To put it succinctly: this film cheats the viewer. Don't trust the judgment of anybody who tells you that this is a great or even a good film.
Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
Brilliant comedy performed by an excellent cast
Since I first saw this in 1970, it has been one of my favorite movies. The fine script by Joseph Bologna and Renée Taylor reminds me more than a little of the work of Preston Sturges: crisp, witty, clear-eyed, and very much to the point. The film offers an intelligent and critical, yet affectionate, image of US marriage during a period of rapidly changing mores, when the recent invention of the pill had made sex, both casual and committed, less daunting to middle class Americans than it used to be.
The film looks at three marriages and one relationship that would have been regarded as improper (at that time, at least) but that is about to be sanctified by marriage. Particularly good are the exchanges between Beatrice Arthur, who is quite wonderful in her role as an Italian Catholic mother, and her husband Richard Castellano, and their older son, who informs his distressed parents that he and his wife (played by Diane Keaton in her screen debut) want a divorce just as his younger brother, played by Michael Brandon, is about to marry an Irish Catholic girl, played by Bonnie Bedelia, fresh from her role in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They." Their assurances to their older son that happiness should not be expected from marriage, and that "too much happiness will only make you miserable," are delivered in a thoroughly believable way.
A determination to stick with what you're stuck with, reinforced by a generous dose of hypocrisy, seems especially to the older generation to be essential. Will Brandon and Bedelia find a different way of doing things? The writers and director do not commit themselves; viewers will form their own conclusions.
In addition to those mentioned, Gig Young, Cloris Leachman, Anne Jackson, Joseph Hindy, Bob Dishy, and Marian Hailey all perform very ably. This is an excellent film that has never received the credit it deserves.
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
A virtually flawless film about a disowned member of an aristocratic family who allows no one to stand between him and the dukedom he desires.
Although best known nowadays for Alec Guinness's multiple roles, this film is even more notable for brilliant performances by Dennis Price in the lead role, accomplishing the neat trick of making a serial murderer seem likable, and by Joan Greenwood as the amoral femme fatale. Her throaty voice is totally sexy.
Valerie Hobson manages to make a priggish woman seem appealing. Miles Malleson makes the most of a very minor part, that of the executioner who, by insisting on reading a poem exhorting the condemned man to repent, is instrumental in saving his life. The ending soon afterward is splendid, in that it permits the viewer to create his own.
The film is one of the most superb black comedies ever made: elegant, cool, wickedly understated, and extraordinarily clever. My teen-aged sons saw it last summer (2005) and loved it. Indeed, it is difficult to believe that anyone can dislike it. Made when Ealing Studios were doing some of their best work, it ranks with 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' as among the best films produced in post-war Britain.