The White Tiger [2021] ★★★
I absolutely love it when a movie comes out of nowhere and turns out to be a pleasant surprise. “The White Tiger” is based off a New York Times bestseller which I’m not familiar with (but now that I’ve seen the movie, I’m curious to check it out). Of the film itself, I can tell you that Adarsh Gourav’s strong and soulful performance cuts deep. He plays an ambitious Indian driver who decides to leave his poor entourage in order to work for a rich family. What happens next is nothing short of spectacular. No spoilers about how things turn out, but Ramin Bahrani’s constantly compelling, Oscar-nominated screenplay, is a thing of beauty and terror. His film is one from the heart, and it’s difficult not to root for our main character from the word go. “The White Tiger” has been streaming on Netflix for a few months now and I urge you to seek it out. It’s one of the year’s finest dramas so far.
“Promising Young Woman” offers a juicy role for the talented Carey Mulligan, but the movie itself is well-made and constantly engaging, making it one of the true highlights of 2020. Mulligan plays a young woman who is leading a double life: she works in a coffee shop during the day and extracts revenge on sexual predators by night. Slowly but surely we come to find out why she’s doing all this, but I will not reveal more. Writer-director Emerald Fennell has crafted a film that couldn’t be more relevant in today’s society. But the movie wouldn’t work as much as it does if it weren’t for Mulligan’s committed performance. Moviegoers who usually associate her with completely different type of movies may be pleasantly surprised at her skillful handling of this unusually tough material. And to say that the film messes with your head on multiple occasions would truly be an understatement. But this is why we still go to the movies (or stream in this case). “Promising Young Woman” is a breath of fresh air, and , might I add, completely credible. I cannot recommend it enough.
This gritty film from writer director Antonio Campos is one of the finest things you’ll stream on Netflix this year. One story links to another as we follow the journey of a young man (Tom Holland) and the bizarre characters that inhabit a small town in West Virginia. The movie is about many things, but mainly it’s about family and fate. It’s a long journey that threatens to go off the rails at times, and does. But Campos and his excellent cast (which includes Robert Patinson, Bill Skarsgard, Sebastian Stan, Jason Clarke, and Riley Keough), take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Holland’s ferocity and feeling pulls you in, and the movie keeps coming at you with twists and turns you don’t always see coming. Campos does bite off more than a film like “The Devil All The Time” can chew, mostly because it takes place over a period of 20 years. But the end result sticks with you. It’s a rich and rewarding experience.
It doesn’t take much time for this Netflix action film to take an intriguing premise and turn it into something way too familiar. “Project Power”, starring Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, imagines a world where a pill can give you unpredictable superpowers for five minutes. But every fairytale has its dark moments, which is why it’s up to Foxx and Levitt to team-up and take down the people responsible for its creation. It’s a hell of a premise, and for about 45 minutes, the movie truly delivers some pulse-pounding action sequences. But from that moment on, it’s obvious that the people behind this project don’t have enough ideas to keep things moving along. Foxx and Levitt are always a pleasure to watch, and the movie is still entirely watchable. But surely a premise like this one should have been exploited to its maximum potential. Too bad.
Steven Soderbergh is a director that I’ve greatly admire over the years, which is why it’s difficult for me to admit that I couldn’t entirely enjoy his latest satire “The Laundromat”, streaming on Netflix. It has an all-star cast (including Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Jeffrey Wright, Sharon Stone, David Schwimmer and James Cromwell!) and an intriguing story to tell: when her husband dies in a a boat accident, a widow (Streep) begins investigating a fake insurance policy, only to expose layers and layers of corruption within the system. Soderbergh takes a satirical approach to his material, but the subject couldn’t be more serious. All of this is mildly amusing and carried out with panache by an expert cast. It’s fun, at first, watching Streep try to put the pieces together…but it doesn’t add up to much. Halfway through, my mind started to wander. Instead of being pulled in, I found myself losing interest in whatever was happening onscreen. Film buffs might enjoy seeing all these actors in one movie, but I wish the screenplay were more cohesive. I still admire Soderbegh and his unusual approach to films, but I can’t recommend “The Laundromat” to anyone.
Amy Ryan is sensational and the main reason to see Netflix’s crime drama “Lost Girls”, which is based on a real, unsolved case. The movie itself is intriguing and well-made, but it remains earthbound while its leading lady delivers an unforgettable performance. When her daughter disappears, Ryan’s Mari Gilbert would stop at nothing to get answers from the local police and the community where she was last seen. The plot truly thickens when her perseverance brings attention to over a dozen murdered sex workers in the same area. Director Liz Garbus takes a “matter-of-fact” approach to her material. She’s not very much interested in high drama, but her film does give you much food for thought. And at the center of it all is a resilient Amy Ryan, who allows us to experience what her character is going through at every stage of the story. But because the film is based on real-life events, don’t expect answers to all your questions, which might turn some viewers off, and understandably so. Still, “Lost Girls” has enough pedigree to justify its existence. If anything, it made me want to read more about these unsolved cases. That’s gotta be worth something.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated with a good “murder mystery”. I’ve watched films, played “Cluedo” endlessly, and read Agatha Christie books religiously. And yet, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a whodunit as perfectly crafted as “Knives Out”. You know you’re in for a treat as soon as the film opens: crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer, still as fine as always) is found dead the morning after his 85th birthday party. Police rules it out as suicide, but Detective Benoit Blanc (perfectly played by Daniel Craig) has other ideas (yep, you guessed it, murder). Your suspects? His entire dysfunctional family, a peculiar cast of characters that includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Toni Colette, Katherine Langford and Don Johnson. Throw in Marta (Ana De Armas), Thrombey’s young nurse to the list of suspects, and you’re in for one hell of a ride. Everyone has a motive, so whodunit? My lips are sealed. But know this: writer-director Rian Johnson may have been heavily inspired by other films of the genre, but he adds something extra to this old-fashioned formula. The result is a film that promises a twisted murder mystery but ends up delivering much more. It’s easily one of my favorite films of the year. And just try to solve this case alone. You won’t.
Martin Scorsese has done it again. Decades of experience run through his latest cinematic masterpiece “The Irishman”. So what better way to celebrate than to bring along Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and an incredible supporting cast that includes Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Anna Paquin, Bobby Cannavale and Jesse Plemons? “The Irishman” is an epic gangster saga, 210 minutes long, beautifully shot, masterfully directed, and perfectly acted. Need I say more? And yet on the surface, this is a simple story of a mob hitman (DeNiro) who recalls his time with his life-long friend, Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino, almost unrecognizable). CGI wizardry makes all these actors (now in their 70’s) look in their 40’s and 50’s again. It’s an incredible thing to witness, but it wouldn’t mean a damn thing if it weren’t so masterfully orchestrated by Scorsese himself. With such gangster classics as “GoodFellas” and “Casino”, Scorsese brings his A game to yet another classic in the making. Issues of sin, loyalty and regret resonate in most of his films, and “The Irishman” is no exception. To dig deeper is to reveal more, which I refuse to do here. But I’ll say that in a world of sequels and reboots, “The Irishman” is a gift from one of the most influential directors of all time. No film buff would pass up the chance to witness all these legendary actors in a film directed by Martin Fucking Scorsese. Will we ever see anything like this again? I have no idea. But one thing’s for sure: to miss out on this film would be the biggest sin you’ll ever commit. It’s one of the year’s very best films and a strong Oscar contender.
If this movie was a theatrical release, I would have probably given it a lower rating. But let’s be honest: movies like “Murder Mystery” belong on Netflix and I’m fine with that. It’s the kind of mediocre movies that I wouldn’t pay money to see on the big screen, but they somehow go down easier from the comfort of my own couch. So yes, if you have nothing better to do, this comedy starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston as a couple who find themselves in the midst of a whodunit, is enjoyable for a while. I say for a while because as soon as the murder takes place and the suspects are revealed, the movie fails to rise above the routine. What saves it from completely going down the drain is the beautiful European scenery. But a movie that spoofs “Murder on the Orient Express” and other popular “whodunits” should have more surprises up its sleeve. Neil Simon did it in the 1976 classic “Murder by Death”. As for “Murder Mystery”, I’ll probably end up forgetting it in a few days.
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