Ballad of a Small Player

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Ballad of a Small Player is an adaptation of the novel 'The Ballad of a Small Player' by Lawrence Osborne. It follows Lord Doyle, a self-proclaimed 'high roller' living in Macau, who is gambling away a small fortune. Doyle is having a serious run of bad luck, with debt and a secret from his past threatening to destroy the life he is living. It will be a true gamble to see if he can still turn his fortune around.

This movie really surprised me at times; it felt a bit more scattered than Berger's previous works, and yet it still had some impressive statements behind it. This film is driven by the character of Doyle, a false figure and a liar. This is a man who stole to reinvent himself and immediately burrowed into an extravagant life of gambling, drinking and luxurious cuisine. Doyle despises himself, but has this dogged drive that winning a gamble will fix all of his problems. Throughout the entire film, we get this impression that what Doyle is running towards is a life free of his past sins caused by avarice, while at the same time, he is running from that life of avarice threatening to consume him. Even when Doyle starts 'finding' his luck, he becomes haunted and certain that his lifestyle will decimate him. The final fifteen minutes, when Doyle gambles to absolve himself and then rejects gambling and greed, are a healing moment that I think lands the whole feature quite nicely.

This is an Edward Berger movie, so if you aren't seated prepared for some excellent visuals, you have no idea what is in store. Ballad of a Small Player dazzles with colour and light, tantalisingly painting wealth one second while making it sickly and cloying in the next frame. I love how purposeful the camerawork is in a Berger film; Conclave marvelled with this, and Ballad continues the thread. The editing isn't the most inspired ever, but the way a smash cut or hallucination sequence is pieced together works well enough. Volker Bertelmann's score is magnificent; much like Doyle, I thought I might break out in a feverish sweat just from the anxiety of it all.

Fala Chen, who played Dao Ming, was a sympathetic and hardened lost soul, much like Farrell's character; I liked that you could almost tell when she became an idealised spectre of herself. Deanie Ip, who played Grandma, was a very dark force in the film despite having few scenes; Ip's character is a bully who thrives on the ruin greed brings.

However, the best performance came from Colin Farrell, who played Lord Doyle. This character really is the driving force behind the film, and Farrell seems up to the task. When we first meet Doyle, he is a wild character, deceitful and spiralling in his poor choices. Farrell makes the moments where he talks out of both sides of his mouth to maintain a lie rather effortless. I loved Farrell's chemistry with Chen; there is something magnetic and contemplative there that you really fall into. Watching this camera make horrid choices and destroy himself is troubling, often even stressful. Farrell brings this feverish and frantic quality to the role as all hope starts to become lost for Doyle. Yet, that shift in quality in the final act, where he starts to pursue something more noble with genuine intent, is brilliant. You really feel the role shedding layers of himself as Farrell portrays the rejection of avarice in those final minutes.

I loved the driving force behind the central theme of Ballad of a Small Player. The commentary around greed is where the story comes to life, but there are a lot of confusing elements within the plot that really let it down. I think this film tried hard to find a cultural thread, linking Doyle's plight with Chinese tradition and mythology. This was an effort that often felt in vain because there didn't seem to be enough knowledge behind the creative vision. The Chinese traditional element seemed unclear and like it was often feeling out its place in the story. I also thought this applied quite strongly to the Dao Ming ghost/hallucination story. She was a brilliant character used too sparingly, and her being this temporary presence made the direction of the story hard to follow. I didn't like the awkward side elements of the story that were barely defined. Things like Doyle having connections with other criminals like him in Macau was a thread that could've been better explored. Finally, the worst part of this film was often when Doyle, as a character, was examined too closely, often by Blithe. The investigation by Blithe seemed to have an intent to ground the story, but it was off-kilter and rather jarring to the wider narrative that was being played out. Yes, Doyle's real self needed to be aired out, but this hovering figure of quavering British morality did very little to drive home the point of the feature.

Tilda Swinton, who played Blithe, was an erratic private investigator role that really had a jarring impact on the film; Swinton's skittish character seemed like a strange mouthpiece for morality. Alex Jennings, who played Adrian Lippett, was a pompous role that had little bearing to give on the story; Jennings' inclusion in that big climactic scene was a poor choice.

The story gets a bit contrived at times, but this is an aesthetic film with plenty to say about avarice. I would give Ballad of a Small Player a 6.5/10.

Roofman

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Roofman is a biographical feature about Jeffrey Manchester, dubbed the 'Roofman' due to his criminal activities of breaking into McDonald's through drilling into their roof spaces. After a prison escape, Jeffrey laid low in a Toy R' Us for months, assuming a new identity and starting to build a new life.

This movie is often quite tragic; you can't help but feel a lot of empathy for the misfortune that Jeffrey finds himself in. This is a protagonist who seems to want the right thing, but keeps picking the wrong path and making ill-fated choices. In a concept sense, this film manages the underdog, everyman story presentation well. The best part of this film is how it manages to present the novelty of Jeffrey living in the Toys R' Us store, which is a pretty wild thing. Seeing Jeffrey zoom around on heelies, wearing Spider-Man clothing while taking a baseball bat to Cuddle-Me Elmos is quite entertaining.

I quite liked the soundtrack for this film; it grounded us in that late 90s/early 2000s era nicely, and there were moments like the 'Don't Speak' by No Doubt scene that had me cracking up.

Channing Tatum, who played Jeffrey Manchester, does a perfectly decent job as this bad luck thief; Tatum's strength is his efforts to be charming and relatable. Kirsten Dunst, who played Leigh Wainscott, is someone I really felt like I could bump into on the street; watching her small moments of inner conflict in this film shows you what a seasoned performer Dunst is. Lily Collias, who played Lindsay, does a good job as the rebellious teenage daughter of Dunst; the pair push one another in a way that feels quite authentic.

However, the best performance came from Peter Dinklage, who played Mitch. This character is the manager of Toys R' Us, and the sort of jerk manager we all talk about on a lunch break. You can tell Dinklage is having fun being his worst self, taking some truly mean dialogue and getting quite derisive with it. This is a role that goes around and ruins other people's day; he lacks empathy and is entirely self-absorbed. Yet, he also knows how to play his role for comedy, too. Dinklage stumbling onto a naked Tatum is a high point of the film, and I loved how he played the robbery scene, too. Maybe not the biggest role for Dinklage, but an entertaining time from start to finish.

Roofman is a hard film to buy into, I found. This is a film where Jeffrey is almost always being painted as having a heart of gold; he's not so bad, really, he wants to be better, gosh, he sure is trying, isn't he? Yet, if you hang around for the credits and get the real-life interview component, it becomes clear that this is probably a bit of an act; the real Jeffrey was quite manipulative and didn't have much remorse for his actions. The film really doesn't feel very authentic. I didn't believe Jeffrey's story was the heroic underdog tale we were being presented with. This is the sort of film that gives you the warm fuzzies at the end, and makes you a bit sad for our hapless hero. But the story we have here is almost like an Instagram filter over the truth. Presented pretty, but quite fictitious. There's so much absurdity in the moments of criminal exploits, massage parlour Buddhas and passport wig canvassing that it all winds up feeling very sincere. The moment the church comes into play in this plot, there's almost a moment of true moral calling applied to Jeffrey that also seems like quite a stretch to me. As a whole, I found this film wanted to be a flashy version of what is quite an intriguing story, but it was willing to compromise on the truth a lot to do so. 

Roofman feels like no effort went into crafting a movie that felt visually interesting. A lot of the camera work is quite basic, and there are many scenes in which the framing is downright ghastly. I wish the director had never gone for a style where the camera got close to the characters, because the camerawork here is glaringly poor. The film has a sluggish pace set by very simplistic editing. I also found the score for this film to be a grating affair; it just drones and doesn't have much emotion to add to this story. The music choices made within the score puzzled me, because this film was hardly asking for much.

Alissa Marie Pearson, who played Becky, is a pretty simple performance for this age; Pearson reads her lines well enough, but there's no sincere connection between her and Tatum. LaKeith Stanfield, who played Steve, rarely feels like a real person; Stanfield plays a hard-edged criminal type, but I struggled to believe in this performance. Melonie Diaz, who played Talena, felt like she had no pre-existing relationship with Tatum or her on-screen children; Diaz is placed in her scenes, but she doesn't really step up as a character actress. Juno Temple, who played Michelle, is a performance with no substance at all; this character plays around a bit in the wig scene, otherwise Temple has nothing to contribute here. Uzo Aduba and Ben Mendelsohn, who played Eileen and Pator Ron respectively, are decent performers playing background characters; it is entirely surprising watching Mendelsohn get lost in this. Kennedy Moyer, who played Dee, is another young actress without much to her; Moyer is just here to be exuberant and not much more.

Has a strange, everyday heart of gold veneer that never truly feels sincere. I would give Roofman a 4.5/10.

Tron: Ares

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Tron: Ares is the sequel to Tron: Legacy (2010) and the third film in the Tron franchise. In this feature, the Dillinger Corporation and Encom are engaged in a corporate feud over the acquisition of the 'Permanence Code'. A digital code that allows digital matter to be rendered into organic matter. Master Control program, Ares, must decide if he will be a pawn in this struggle or find a life of his own.

This is a film that doesn't think about its title character very much, but when it does remember Ares? That is the film I liked watching. Tron has always been a grapple between the digital and the real, and Ares' story is right at the core of that. Watching him be treated like this, expendable, disposable soldier in servitude to another, is a great bridge to watching him develop a desire for life. Ares is rather quirky and unconventional; this expressionless program, which develops his own sense of self, is extremely entertaining.

The thing this film does incredibly well is the visual effects. Tron: Ares has elements like light cycle races in the 'real world', which is rather pretty at times, and the Grid is sharp in design and almost an imposing landscape now. Even the downscale to present the classic Grid design from the first Tron film is a nice love letter to the fans.

Jared Leto, who played Ares, appeared to have a decent bit of fun in this leading role; Leto manages to be expressionless as a machine while finding some aloof charisma within that. Jeff Bridges, who played Kevin Flynn, is one of the most seasoned performers of the cast; Bridges is effortlessly cool and sincere in his third Tron.

However, the best performance came from Evan Peters, who played Julian Dillinger. It can be fun to play the villain; there's a little more room there to showboat and ham it up. Peters really takes Julian in a few different places here, but he knows how to play the tech billionaire antagonist with a superiority complex. Peters opens this movie by performing a grandstanding delivery about artificial intelligence, the digital frontier and military applications; he's charismatic but clearly built for profit. This is a character who is narcissistic and lacks empathy for others; he has a sociopathic side when it comes to losing, which has some real bite to it. Julian really actively engages in a willingness to terminate others if it puts him ahead across the film. Yet, Peters also shows the side of Julian that feels the fear at unravelling so completely. The low moments for Julian when he starts losing, when his mother is killed due to his hubris and even when he runs away into the Grid are great moments of desperation played brilliantly by Peters.

This film feels devoid of life, and not just because it's about computer programs. This film has a lot of potential, an interesting protagonist and some killer special effects. But it all tends to get lost in the plot of the corporate human characters who, for some baffling reason, get centre stage. Ares is our heroic other, a computer program who wants to be a little bit human, which I found surprisingly relatable. Yet the story for this movie often forgets or fails to prioritise Ares. Following the human characters feels so dispassionate; they are incapable of expressing authentic emotions or connections with one another. These people are your TED talkers, your corporate execs and computer programmers. People who are fighting for their tech to progress, who are beholden to wars over having the best product. Simply put, most of the characters in Tron feel like hollow business entities with little human quality, very difficult for a movie-going audience to find their heroes in. The film was just a prolonged armwrestle over a code, with the item in question sometimes being made tangible with a thumb drive or a disk from the Grid. Even the bad guys just constantly 3D printing themselves and throwing themselves back at our heroes over and over became quite laborious to watch play out. Overall,  Tron: Ares does something pretty creative with its title character, but it's too little in a script that lacks emotional depth or substance.

I was relatively unimpressed by the way this film was captured. There are a few captivating scenes, but the camera often serves the effect before it tries for a compelling shot. I also didn't really care for Nine Inch Nails' overhyped score. The electro-rock tone had its moments, but overall it felt like my ears were being rammed with a wall of noise, blaring sound with no thought put to crafting themes or character pieces.

Greta Lee, who played Eve Kim, is often the central protagonist of the film but really struggles with the part; Lee doesn't have much emotion to give to her character. Jodie Turner-Smith, who played Athena, is an antagonist with a bit too much screen time; her two-dimensional motive of living and dying by the mission wears thin fast. Gillian Anderson, who played Elisabeth Dillinger, is wasted in this stoic, disapproving mother role; Anderson and Peters feel too distant to be playing actual family members to one another. Hasan Minhaj, who played Ajay Singh, is one character too many in this film; Minhaj trying to play this high-profile CEO of the people fizzles out almost immediately. Arturo Castro, who played Seth Flores, is awkwardly positioned as the comedic relief of the film; sadly, Castro isn't especially funny.

It is disappointing to see a world with as much potential as Tron turn into something like this. I would give Tron: Ares a 2/10.

The Smashing Machine

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The Smashing Machine is a biographical feature detailing a few pivotal years in the life of MMA fighter Mark Kerr. The film shows the early years of mixed martial arts becoming recognised as a competitive sport and the challenges Kerr faced as a competitor, within his relationship and as an addict.

This is the sort of film that perfectly exercises what a good biopic strives to achieve; it crafts a compelling character piece. Mark Kerr is the focal force of this story in every way. The film opens with his signature calm, measured tone, lightly describing what fighting is like as we visually see the graphic violence of a fight being played out. Kerr's gentle giant nature switching into these incredible moments of physical domination is a sharp contrast I quite enjoyed early on. It makes Kerr an unpredictable element, especially if you are unfamiliar with his story, as I was. As the film progresses, we come to see Kerr as a volatile figure abusing himself with opiates, destroying his state of life. This was the strength of the film; these character struggles where Kerr would excuse and pity himself, where conflict would erupt between him and Dawn, and where Kerr would strive for improvement only for Dawn to resent him for it. The Smashing Machine has plenty of neat visceral fight scenes for you to sink your teeth into, but the character conflict at play here packs a much harder punch. I remember watching Kerr make his peace in the showers near the end of the film, as Coleman celebrated his success, and thinking this was a fighting story that defied expectations in a relatively satisfying way.

Benny Safdie crafts this wonderful film, and I felt his touch really elevates this into something special. This film boasts a unique visual style reminiscent of old-school home video footage. Watching a camera manually push in while still immersing the audience is impressive. The editing feels neatly choreographed to the story, each scene gliding along at a neat pace. The score for this film is discordant and collides with an impact. I also really adored the way the soundtrack not only grounded us in the time period but also provided a very sobering, melancholy sound to this feature.

Emily Blunt, who played Dawn Staples, has found one of her most wretched roles to date; Blunt's character is so toxic, and how this manifests is really steadily presented. Bas Rutten, who played himself, is undeniably earnest in his scene work; Rutten gives a light shade of hope to the film that I rather enjoyed. 

However, the best performance came from Dwayne Johnson, who played Mark Kerr. This film is tied entirely to this central performance and lays down the expectation that Johnson's take on Kerr will carry the whole thing home. The curiosity in this is whether Johnson has the range capable of leading a dramatic lead like this. He's immediately unlike anything we have ever seen before. Kerr has a soft-spoken manner that makes him very calming to listen to, even when he's speaking about the nature of fighting. Johnson does a good job of finding the little mannerisms of Kerr, even within the elements of portraying opiate addiction. One of my favourite parts of his portrayal was how he voiced frustration when his expectations weren't met and then almost immediately withdrew the remark and retreated into himself. Johnson shows how challenged Kerr was at this time; his mentality after the No Contest match was a real jaw-dropper. The final fight Johnson and Blunt share onscreen is the height of the film and speaks to the layered character work the pair embarked on to create this dynamic. Dwayne Johnson isn't just out here making cash grab blockbusters; he is genuinely the real deal.

The Smashing Machine is quite bound by the limits of a movie that takes place significantly within 'The Ring'. As an audience, we sit there and expect that when we see Mark Kerr as 'unbeatable', he will be due for a great fall, and from there will have to work through his struggles to get some form of comeback status. The film is a bit unconventional in delivery, but it still wades into these easier story elements and comfortably hovers there. Seeing Mark's fighting career go up and down is the part of the story that lacks teeth and holds little surprise. I also needed this film to have way less Mark Coleman focused upon; the character lacked substance, and the film tumbled to a halt when he had to lead a scene. The worst part of The Smashing Machine is that final scene set in modern day, tracking the real Mark Kerr around as he giggles to himself over being filmed. It's a strange, awkward footnote that confuses the power behind the story that was just delivered.

Ryan Bader, who played Mark Coleman, is clearly a talented fighter but a wooden actor; Bader's acting is one of the single worst things about The Smashing Machine. Whitney Moore, who played Jacqueline, is a really shallow best friend character to Blunt; Moore and Blunt struggle to draw anything meaningful out of one another in their scene together.

This is a performance from Dwayne Johnson unlike anything you have seen before. I would give The Smashing Machine a 7.5/10.

One Battle After Another

 

This review may contain spoilers!

One Battle After Another is an American action-thriller epic loosely adapted from Thomas Pynchon's novel: "Vineland". Follows Bob (formerly Pat), an ex-revolutionary of the far-left French 75, and his daughter Willa, who have been hiding out for years after the arrest of Bob's former revolutionary partner. When a militant force bears down on them in a bid to take Willa, a resulting tooth-and-nail fight for survival ensues.

Art often reflects the world around us; that's a simple outlook, but it tends to ring true. In One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson holds up protagonists from a far-left revolutionary group, criminals who plant bombs and rob banks to stick it to billionaires and a system that actively works against minorities and the disenfranchised. This group is set against a peppering of antagonists - the bizarre satirical parody of the Ku Klux Klan referred to as the Christmas Adventurer's Club, and the far-right militant Colonel Lockjaw. The early conflict of this film is not only foundational but presents a cycle of conflict, an epic and sadistic struggle that neither side ultimately triumphs within. We are left with a child who has a vague parentage and a former revolutionary who was already halfway out the door. The film cuts forward just over fifteen years, and we see how the former revolutionary, Bob, has regressed into a paranoid stoner figure. He has had some triumphs, like supporting the city he lives in becoming something of a 'Sanctuary City' for illegal immigrants. In spite of this, his relationship with his daughter, Willa, is rather frayed. Yet when Lockjaw reignites the conflict, we get a more personalised story of revenge in the form of a manhunt for Willa. But this is no redemptive story about a father rescuing his teenage daughter. Bob barrels along throughout the film in an effort to save his child, but the strength of the film lies elsewhere. We get to watch Willa constantly fight against the path she has been put upon. This protagonist is a fighter due to the skills she has as a result of her father's training or support, yet she never asked for this battle. Willa is her own hero ultimately, but she rescues herself from a conflict she never began. Willa becomes answerable for the sins of her parents, irrespective of whether or not she had a choice. Watching her still choose to continue that cycle at the end of the feature, as Bob definitively moves away completely from the life of the revolutionary, is an incredibly well-rounded conclusion to this masterful script.

Paul Thomas Anderson is a master of the craft, one of the true filmmaking greats, and this can be seen in every technical element of One Battle After Another. This film is wide-spanning and often in motion too; the camera glides through scenes with the intention to pull you directly into the world of the scene. The final car chase sequence is one of the most tense sequences of the year. I found this film felt almost choreographed; every moment felt entirely considered and was cut together very neatly. The score also played to this strength, accompanying the moments of anxiety, tension and fear superbly as guitar strings were frantically plucked. I also really adored the film soundtrack toying with political stance as moral action, The Jackson 5's 'Ready Or Not (Here I Come)' was ringing through my head walking away from this.

Teyana Taylor, who played Perfidia, is a force to be reckoned with; Taylor is a woman born to fight for her own brand of justice in this. Sean Penn, who played Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, is one of the players well and truly worth watching in this feature; Penn and DiCaprio are battling it out for best performance across the whole piece. Chase Infiniti, who played Willa, is a phenomenal up-and-coming young actress; Infiniti's descent into a world of high stakes and violence is so gritty and real. Benicio Del Toro, who played Sensei Sergio St. Carlos, portrays a tired yet professional air as his world goes to hell in a handbasket; I loved Del Toro's incredibly dry wit in this. Tony Goldwyn, who played Virgil Throckmorton, has an incredible ability to draw forth a charismatic character; the part that really made this thing sing was that he also managed to bleed a sense of danger into his line delivery. James Raterman, who played Danvers, was such a quiet scene stealer; Raterman's interrogation scenes were a highlight of the film in my eyes.

However, the best performance came from Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Bob. This was a character who was spellbound with the thrill of revolution in his youth. He wanted to rebel less for the cause but for the thrill and the pleasure. DiCaprio and Taylor together are fiery; it's a hot relationship that feels consuming. Watching Bob transition from free-wheeling freedom fighter to concerned Dad was an appropriate turn. Across the rest of the film, DiCaprio paints Bob as a paranoid, stoned man who is caught in the limbo of his past life and his desire to be a good father. It's often hilarious watching Bob fail at being the hero of this story; he barely comes out ahead in his pursuit to save his daughter. Yet, DiCaprio presents Bob's love for his child as impassioned and frantic, a huge drive to reunite. Bob is a figure who burned bright but left a lot for others to answer for; his inability to recapture the image of the heroic revolutionary shows the burden he has left for his daughter to carry.

Paul Thomas Anderson knows how to chase a colossal and compelling script that often reflects heavily on our current state of being. One Battle After Another has a lot of lofty and accurate statements to make about the political divisiveness and conflict we see in the world right now. But it also gets more chaotic than it really needs to at times. This is a film that skates right along the edge of the absurd in a few scenes, making for moments where you wonder the intention the film has or where it might go next. Sometimes this method results in a loss of focus, and the film's throughline is lost.

Regina Hall, who played Deandra, is quite a tame character amongst the main revolutionaries; she never really feels as driven, which is strange considering the nature of the role. Eric Schweig, who played Avanti, is just so flat in this role; Schweig seems almost lifeless throughout the feature. John Hoogenakker, who played Tim Smith, is one of the more outlandish characters in this film; Hoogenakker's role being such a bent out of shape hitman seemed a tough sell at times.

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of those great film director maestros who knows how to pull a piece together into something chaotic and artistic. I would give One Battle After Another a 9/10.