Vic Flix Movie Review: Shazam!

We enter the latest DC Comics origin story with young Thaddeus Sivana in the back seat of a car, speeding through a dark and stormy night in the year 1974. His abusive older brother and father are in the front seat, proving how abusive they can be, when Thad’s Magic 8-Ball (remember those?) starts flashing mysterious symbols and messages, ultimately causing Thad to experience a hallucination. Emerging from a mental trip to a wizard’s lair, he freaks out, startling his father, who freaks out even more and crashes the car. Thrown from the car and face down in a pool of blood, is the elder Sivana dead?  Signs point to yes.

Flash forward to adult Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), who has spent his entire life searching for instances of similar, let’s call them abductions, and occurrences of the seven mysterious symbols throughout the world. We quickly come to understand that he has become evil. Much like wealthy Bruce Wayne, he runs a shadow organization that covers for his secret identity.

There are two responses to abuse. One is to pay it forward, becoming an abuser oneself. The other is to learn from the experience and make sure no one ever suffers the same treatment, at least at one’s own hands. Would Dr. Sivana have become evil if he embodied kindness? Don’t count on it.

Meanwhile, Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is on a quest to find the mother who lost him in a crowd at an amusement park when he was a toddler. He has bounced around the foster system, too much to handle for all placements to date. He winds up at a group home that is incredibly diverse and loving, and also the home to Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), the lightly handicapped superhero fan who has some of the best lines in the film. Upon first meeting Billy he warns, “Don’t believe everything you hear, it gets really Game of Thrones around here.” He then admits he’s messing with Billy and then brags, “I’m a handicapped foster kid – I have everything in the world going for me!”

A lunchtime conversation focuses on Freddie’s obsession with all things superhero. He asks Billy which superpower he’d prefer – flying or invisibility, and then proceeds to dismantle the traditional answers and shine the light of truth on them. He shows Billy his guaranteed authentic bullet that bounced off of Superman, a prelude to a later scene, and our first hint that we are in the DC Universe, where superheroes are real. Ultimately Freddie becomes Billy’s advocate and sidekick following Billy’s transformation.

What transformation, you ask? Well, concentrate and ask again. Billy experiences a similar visit to the Wizard’s lair, this time by subway train, flashing symbols similar to the 8-Ball earlier in the film. This is where Billy, a young Scott Baio lookalike, first demonstrates his sense of humor and extreme confidence. The Wizard is so overly dramatic, with his loud commands and hyperbolic pronouncements, Billy chuckles and says, “Seriously?” It’s an endearing moment that ends when the wizard scares him into taking the whole wizard thing seriously. By grasping the Wizard’s staff (yeah, weird) and saying “Shazam!” he instantly becomes a huge, muscle-bound superhero version of himself at about age 30-something (Zachary Levi, from the series Chuck.)

The Wizard’s lair is also home to seven demon statues, representing the seven deadly sins, frozen solid and under the wizard’s control, until…

…Dr. Sivana enters, snags a glowing orb that enters his bald skull as a glowing blue eye, and empowers him with the spirits of the statues. Of course, they come to life and do his bidding, all with the greatly overused particle smoke effect that video effects designers have mastered in the past year or so. Yay computing power!

There’s a lot of fun along the way as Freddie and Billy/Shazam set out to discover what powers Billy has become endowed with. This is honestly the best part of the movie, reminiscent of Tom Hanks, in Big, trying out his new body with the silly humor and innocence of a fourteen year old.

Meanwhile, old blue eye, who come to think of it rather resembles a glowing Magic 8-Ball, sets out upon a new quest – to capture Shazam and absorb his power into his own. And that quest takes up the remainder of the movie, which at over two hours seems much too long.

Will there be a sequel to Shazam? Signs point to yes. Drawing on the success of Aquaman and Wonder Woman, DC is on a roll, albeit pale by comparison to Marvel. Mixed results from their portfolio that includes Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Justice League and Suicide Squad, and with a timeline of sequels planned, the DC Extended Universe has become the 8^thhighest grossing franchise to date. Still, can Shazam ever be taken seriously now that the fun is gone? Cannot predict now.

A note to parents: some scenes featuring the animated statues are intense. Being eaten or thrown out a skyscraper window is definitely not for the kiddies.

Shazam! (2019) runs 2 hours,12 minutes and is rated PG-13

Should I see this movie?

   Your choice.

Vic’s Flix Movie Review: Us

A good science fiction movie asks us to suspend disbelief by cleverly walking the line between plot elements based on science facts, and the manipulation of those facts into a realm where we can imagine a world in which the improbable becomes possible.

For instance, in Jordan Peele’s Oscar winning directorial debut, Get Out (2017), the science of brain transplantation (fiction) through neurosurgery (fact) is combined with hypnosis (fact) to trap and victimize visitors at a wealthy family’s estate. From there, unsuspecting youthful marks are lured and their bodies stolen for use by aging conspirators.

Both Get Out and Us are being promoted within the Horror and Thriller genres, but as detailed above, I consider Get Out to be a Science Fiction film, and believe that Us belongs there as well. That said, they are both thrilling and horrifying.

In an opening flashback we visit a seaside carnival in Santa Cruz, California during 1986, where a couple and their young daughter Adelaide are playing carnival games. Adelaide wanders off and gets lost in a funhouse filled with mirrors. The power goes out (a device repeated later), leaving Adelaide panicky and eventually face to face with her actual double, not a mirror image. One therapist and years later, Adelaide and her own family return to her parents’ home for a vacation in, of all places, Santa Cruz. There are lots of fun memories there.

During a trip to the beach, a stranger with a cardboard sign that reads “Jeremiah 11:11” attracts the interest of their son Jason, who begins to wander off at about the same age as Adelaide when she vanished. I guess it runs in the family. Oh, the sign-carrying dude was also there in 1986. I guess he’s been hanging out for several decades. He’s older now. And according to Jordan Peele, this bible passage expresses the underlying theme of duality in Us. (see below)

And this may be where Peele is trying to create too many connections. At first, coincidences begin to surface. A clock reads 11:11, the score of a ball game is 11 to 11. But this goes nowhere. The t-shirt Adelaide wore early in the film was emblazoned with a Hands Across America logo. This becomes important later.

The biggest problem with Us is that the underlying science is sort of pointless and poorly explained. Before the movie begins, on-screen text informs us that there are thousands of miles of abandoned and unused tunnels, subways, mine shafts and other subterranean passageways, many with no known purpose. It is later revealed that an entire race of soul-less cloned humans has been living underground. It is mentioned that “they” were able to create bodies but not souls. It is not explained who did this, why everyone was duplicated or what they hoped to accomplish.

Eventually a family of zombie-like doppelgangers shows up in the driveway of the vacation home. There is a double for each member of the family, one creepier than the next. Momma zombie tells a story in a barely perceptible guttural sequence that holds the captive human family spellbound and terrified. It is the tale of “shadow people” that have suffered long enough, darn it. The time has come to get their due. In a scene reminiscent of War of the Worlds, the evening news reveals that cities across America are being taken over by mysterious red-suited strangers. But wait, how is it that Momma zombie can talk, while all of the others are voiceless?

In their subterranean hideaway, it appears that the shadow people lived on a diet of uncooked rabbits and were able to dress themselves in uniform red jumpsuits. Where they got the material or skills to fabricate these is not explained, nor is the requisite large golden scissors they each carry. Perhaps Amazon made deliveries to the underground.

Of course, as with Get Out, there is a plot twist at the end. It turns out that Adelaide and her double switched places the night she ran away. Good became evil and evil became good I guess. And thus, good Adelaide became the leader of the shadow people, equipping them with her child-like understanding of the image on her own t-shirt, to link themselves hand in hand like paper dolls. If Adelaide’s husband ever figures out whom he’s been living with he’ll need some therapy of his own. Date nights through the years could have gone in an entirely different direction.

The genuinely silly concept is one in which Hands Across America, a 1986 benefit event to link 6.5 million people by holding hands from coast to coast for 15 minutes becomes integral to the under-grounders in staging their emergence. In theory, enough people participated in the real event to have spanned the required distance, but there were many significant gaps. All it achieves in Us is a confusing gap in logic, with red-clad doubles drawing attention to themselves as if to say, here we are, come and get us. Two hovering helicopters are perhaps precursors to their easy annihilation.

The good news is, shadow people can be killed. In a disturbing but darkly humorous subplot, it’s fascinating to see how readily the vacationers descend into madness in a killing spree they shrug off as gratifying and necessary. It’s a bloody mess featuring a baseball bat, golf club, car, boat and paperweight.

Lupita Nyong'o plays the adult Adelaide. We recognize her from 12 Years a Slave. Her husband Gabe provides a bit of much needed comic relief in the capable hands of Winston Duke, from Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity Wars. Neighbor Kitty is played by the now very familiar Elisabeth Moss, whose role in The Handmaid's Tale has made her a natural for the horror/thriller space.

Jordan Peele decided to get serious after his departure from Key and Peele, the award winning Comedy Central series that ran for about three years beginning in 2012. His surprising success with Get Out may have convinced him to pursue a directorial path as a master of modern horror, much like M. Night Shyamalan’s quest. It remains to be seen if he can continue to score hits reminiscent of his first outing. For now, Us appears to be a second feather in his cap, but like others before him, as the bar rises, there will be greater scrutiny on his ability to clear the next hurdle and avoid become predictable and formulaic.

At the end of the day, Us works as a thriller. You’ll cheer when shadow people are killed and sit on the edge of your seat for most of the movie. When we exited the theater, a number of people were dressed in red. And there were two teenagers who wore huge rabbit heads before the film started. THAT was creepy!

For your reference, Jeremiah 11:11

"Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them."

Us (2019) runs 1 hour, 56 minutes and is rated R.

Should I see this movie?

Vic’s Flix Movie Review: Dumbo

Perhaps Disney needs to think harder about making live-action movies from its library of animated classics. In the case of Dumbo the wait was since 1941. The more recent Aladdin (1993) takes flight later this year and looks promising. Several generations of fans have given birth to several more generations since a cute flying elephant captured our hearts. But maybe they should have left this one on the library shelf.

I initially questioned the choice of Tim Burton as director, given his dark, other-worldly style, but he has a long relationship with Disney, with hits that include Alice in Wonderland, Frankenweenie, The Nightmare Before Christmas and of course, Beetlejuice. Burton actually began his career by illustrating animals for Disney films. But the Dumbo story may have lacked sufficient leeway to allow Burton’s typically twisted creative approach. That, and there was the need to sanitize the original production of its World War II era racist elements. We’re talking about more than blackface here. Jive-talking black crows and faceless black roustabouts are only part of the baggage.

At the end of the day, Dumbo is really just a one trick pony, er, elephant. Still cute, with adorable big blue eyes, the amazing computer graphics have you believing he’s real, right down to his giant, flapping ears. But the 1941 Dumbo was somehow cuter in his flattened, colorized incarnation. And he was new then - a new idea, a new film. Once he takes flight in 2019 it requires some effort to wrap a story around him more compelling than his mother being taken away.

Have you noticed how Disney likes to mess with parent/child relationships? Poor Bambi. Poor Dumbo. It seems Disney writers are working through therapeutic issues by proxy, pulling at the heartstrings of their audience. Lo and behold, I researched this, and found that Walt Disney bought his parents a home in the early 1940s. Shortly after they moved in, the furnace leaked and his mother died. Yikes! Motherless children abound in Disney features, and that’s just terribly sad.

Appearing with baby Dumbo are Burton favorites Michael Keaton as V.A. Vendevere, a duplicitous Ringling-like showman; Danny DeVito as Max Medici, owner and ringmaster of the Medici Brothers traveling circus, and Alan Arkin as J. Griffin Remington, a heartless robber baron style investor. Colin Farrell stars as Holt Farrier, a trick horse rider returning from the war minus one arm. His two kids have been cared for in his absence by fellow circus performers following the death of his wife from the 1918 influenza epidemic (another mother lost). The kids are the first to recognize Dumbo’s secret talent. Eva Green plays Collette Marchant, arriving on the arm of Vandevere as a Cruella DeVille character who is in fact an aerial artist with a heart of gold. Who knew?

Set in 1919, the traveling circus has come upon hard times. Deaths from the flu, poor attendance and the war have forced Medici to sell off assets and reassign personnel. That’s when Dumbo becomes a hot property, attracting the attention of Vandevere, who signs Medici on as a partner and builds the Dreamland circus and amusement park. “Let the people come to you,” he tells Medici.

Accents abound in this and other recent movies. Joseph Gatt plays Neils Skellig, Vandevere’s sinister, bald minion who fades in and out of an accent from the omnipresent Disney country of Evilburg, where  I suppose they speak Evil-ese. Irish Colin Ferrell does his best to sound like a western cowboy. Eva Green, who is actually French, is spending her career suppressing or affecting accents as she does here, or as Penny Dreadful’s Vanessa Ives. Her ashen, haunted look makes it difficult to take her seriously as a kind-hearted child and baby elephant advocate. She’s much more believable as a witch or reincarnated Egyptian goddess.

Colin Ferrell admitted his desire to work on a Burton project for children so his kids could see one of his films. Why the others signed on is a mystery. Keaton delivers barely believable lines, seeming to have shown up the day of filming, wondering why his hair was being dyed blonde and parted to the side. Alan Arkin should have retired after Little Miss Sunshine. At age 85 he still has value as an actor but should be more particular about the roles he plays. Danny Devito is a delight, whether playing an M&M or a ringmaster. His is the most genuine performance in the film, but even he seems bored.

Your kids may enjoy Dumbo. For goodness sake, don’t show them the original. But in 2019, kids are more sophisticated than this movie gives them credit for as audience members. They may lose interest. Wait for this one to show up for free on TV.

Dumbo (2019) runs 1 hour, 52 minutes and is rated PG.

Should I see this movie?

Captain Marvel

As we sat through what felt like 73 coming attractions at tonight’s showing of Captain Marvel, it seemed that 64 of them were from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU.) Is there no limit to the imaginative stories and money being made by this enterprise? Perhaps eventually the entire cast of characters will become as impotent as The Hulk in Avengers: Infinity War, but all signs indicate that this will not be anytime soon.

The experience began with a very nice short video tribute to Stan Lee, whose passing just short of age 96 during November of 2018 came at the continuing zenith of his creative success. But that didn’t prevent him from appearing in his traditional cameo early in this film, grinning like a Cheshire Flerken (more on that later). One wonders how many features still in production were able to squeeze him in during his last days. Or maybe they’ll just create him in a digital studio.

There are plenty of explosions and battles between seemingly indestructible heroes and villains here. And unless I’m becoming numb to the violence, this isn’t the gory stuff of Deadpool. Sure, they get tossed around and shot with energy weapons, but they play dead nicely without being dismembered or tortured first. And much of the blood is blue – a hallmark of the alien Kree race we’re familiar with as fans of Agents of Shield. Comic book violence has evolved along with everything else, but a PG13 rating reigns in the graphic boundaries while expanding the potential audience to next generation fans.

There’s always an air of excitement in a theater prior to a Marvel feature. Yet it’s surprising how few hardcore fans there are. They’re the ones who stay for the teaser after the movie ends, and after an interminable wait, the sneak peak following the credits. The theater cleaning staff patiently waits for the small group of faithful to exit before beginning their rounds, but they show up a bit early just in case no one stays. It’s a geeky I-know-something-you-don’t few moments.

Brie Larson plays the title role nicely, balancing pretty with powerful, joking along the way, and handling some very physical action sequences. If not mistaken, I noticed that she appeared to be somewhat knock-kneed when filmed from behind while running, making for an awkward, sprinting Pee Wee Herman gait that was only seen once. She’s not able to run like Tom Cruise, nor does she need to, actually spending more time flying and doing the superhero fall-from-on-high, thundering touchdown that’s become so popular. I guess when you slam one leg and a fist into the ground it breaks your fall. I would just severely injure a knee, ankle and wrist.

To sum up Captain Marvel is to hum along with Gwen Stefani’s I’m Just a Girl, which accompanies a lengthy battle sequence. It’s a nice selection from 1995, the year being portrayed in the film. Brie (Carol, Vers or Captain Marvel) and former best-friend/test pilot Maria Rambeau, played by Lashana Lynch, relive their power-couple Top Gun days at the urging of Maria’s young daughter. She very cutely challenges, “You have a chance to fly into space and battle aliens and you’re gonna stay home and watch Fresh Prince with me? What kind of example is that?” Thankfully they didn’t dredge up Spice Girls for the soundtrack, also from the same pop music era, and also loaded with girl power. It was very clear that these are strong, capable women.

If you like coming of age stories of any kind, a mystery that requires unraveling, or a superhero origin story, this film elegantly intertwines genres through all three initially somewhat confusing subplots. Once we get that sorted out, it’s all good guys versus bad guys on a cosmic scale that eventually dovetails into the Marvel universe. Although the name of the title character required explaining, “It’s Mar-Vel,” we can overlook one clumsy moment in an otherwise well written journey.

Other actors of note include Annette Bening (married to Warren Beatty), who has been working steadily in a number of forgettable films, Jude Law, who effectively plays a good guy gone bad, and Ben Mendelsohn, who seems to be showing up just about everywhere since his role as the troubled son Danny on Netflix’s amazing Bloodline series, where he suppressed his Australian accent. After Captain Marvel was over, I found myself wondering why only some aliens have accents.

For fans that have been along for the ride for a while, there are lots of tasty treats (might that red Mustang fly at a later date?) and familiar faces, a couple of which were digitally made younger. Ever-loyal Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) hasn’t looked this good in years. Likewise for Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), whose befriending of a cat (a Flerken if you’re a Kree) is adorable and gets some of the best laughs in the film. Oh, cats and their hairballs!

Captain Marvel was a quick two-hour prequel, a visually engaging trip with lots of color, cool tunes and non-stop action. It stands on its own if you’re just stepping into Marvel territory, but really delivers if you’ve been there many times before.

Captain Marvel (2019) runs 2 hours, 3 minutes and is rated PG13

Should I see this movie?

Vic’s Flix Movie Review: BlacKkKlansman

I feel the need to be cautious reviewing a movie by Spike Lee. Why is that? Perhaps it’s because I’m white and he is a resounding voice from within the African-American community. That takes me into sensitive territory these days. 

But a little research compels me to revisit some of Lee’s more noteworthy films, including She’s Gotta Have it (1986), which launched his career, Do The Right Thing (1989), Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Malcolm X (1992) and If God Is Willing And The Creek Don’t Rise (2010). If you’re a fan of Denzel Washington, he is frequently cast in Lee’s films, as is Samuel L. Jackson.

So here are a few things you might not know about Shelton Jackson (Spike) Lee: his background is one of arts and education – the son of a jazz musician father and a school teacher mother. He studied film making to the graduate level, and won a student Oscar for his first short called The Answer in 1980, a reworking of The Birth of a Nation, which features prominently in Oscar nominated (Best Director) BlacKkKlansman. He frequently teaches and lectures, and started his own production company with the money he made on his early work. 

His grandmother sent him to college and helped fund She’s Gotta Have It. As a man with a close relationship to my own grandmother, I have an affinity for others similarly blessed. While not entirely prolific, he has been a steady, busy, message-driven filmmaker for almost four decades, and he’s only 61. He is not without controversy, being vocal about his passions and visible as a sports enthusiast, sitting courtside at all New York Knicks games.

So, on to BlacKkKlansman, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Set in the early 1970s, the film draws its inspiration from the career of Ron Stallworth, the first black officer on the Colorado Springs police department. Like many other films “based on actual events” there are those who poke holes in Lee’s adherence to the literal sequence of events as portrayed on screen. Call it artistic license, but unlike others who leverage their creativity, Lee seems unfairly held to a standard others fail to meet. And that is called a double standard. There is enough actual footage drawn from recent events, and still photos from horrific chapters in our history, to qualify as near documentary.

In short, Stallworth (John David Washington) manages to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan over the telephone with the help of a fellow white officer (Adam Driver) who attends Klan meetings and earns his KKK membership card. Together they become embroiled in protests, cross-burnings, a bombing and the take-down of a racist officer, much of which never actually happened, but certainly adds excitement and a sense of redemption to the film.

Lee incorporates quite a few early 70s songs in the soundtrack, attempting to cement us into that strange turbulent/jubilant time, including the irresistibly funky Ball of Confusion by the Temptations, and Too Late to Turn Back Now by Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose. A couple of tracks jolted me out of the story line as misfits - Brandy by Looking Glass and Lucky Man by Emerson, Lake and Palmer are definitely period pieces, and I like both songs so I overlooked their intrusion. I guess they played on the radio at that time whether they “fit” or not.

The potpourri of 1970s nostalgia Lee pulled out of his hat (he also has a line of off-brand sports and other lids) is significant, primarily in capturing black culture during a period so rich in music (Motown), hairstyles (the Afro), language (can you dig it? Right on!) and dance (the Soul Train Line) and clothing (colorful and distinctive bells, disco leisure about to take off and many others.) Of course, cars that are now classics like the original VW Bug, Nova, Charger, Pinto and many more bring the streets of the 70s to life.

Several film production notes worth mentioning: Lee likes to use the “Dolly Zoom” effect in his films. This was a technique developed by Alfred Hitchcock that makes an actor appear to float forward independent of the background. It’s quite unsettling, as evidenced in Vertigo and later in Jaws and many others. Lee apparently really, really likes this effect and gives us a nice long zoom in this film.

When a mistake or an effect pulls me out of the film and returns me to my seat in a theater, it may as well be a cell phone ringing in the theater. One such instance was a distinct solar flare on the camera lens during an outdoor sequence. Another was Lee’s use of animated stills that swiped right and left from off screen during a conversation between characters to illustrate their points. It felt amateurish, like iMovie effects.

BlacKkKlansman is perhaps not a great movie, but it is a good movie worth seeing, if nothing else, as a reminder during a resurgence of racial tension in our country that there are profound and deeply rooted reasons for unresolved anger and hatred. That the KKK still exists and David Duke still speaks in public is astounding. That Spike Lee was able to incorporate humor into a film this meaningful is impressive. And a chilling series of high quality current news footage segments counters that emotion with one of horror as you leave the theater.

BlacKkKlansman (2018) runs 2 hours, 15 minutes and is rated R.

Should I see this movie?

Vic’s Flix Movie Review: Greta

It’s great when you see a movie that hasn’t been hyped to the point at which it’s almost guaranteed to be disappointing. Frankly, there aren’t a lot of movies out right now that are on “our list” to see as soon as possible. So it was doubly rewarding, given that we only saw one preview during the past few months, that we enjoyed Greta so much.

Greta has several key elements of suspense covered. A madwoman, stalking a trusting young girl with mommy AND daddy issues, not to mention a free-spirited roommate who’s bound to cause trouble; close-up camera shots that set your spine tingling with apprehension of the reveal – someone in the dark just off screen about to pounce; slow acting poison leading to sequences that make you feel as if you’ve been drugged along with the victim; and of course, bone-headed decision making in the face of certain doom. “You’re not seriously going into the dark basement, are you?”

The title role of Greta Hideg is played by little (5 foot 2) Isabelle Huppert, a French actress, who, interestingly, plays the part of a psychopath pretending to be French. If you find yourself wondering, “Where have I seen her before?” you’re not alone. Her resume is comprised mostly of French cinematic titles but she’s had a role on Law & Order: SVU and of all things Heaven’s Gate. Being mysterious helps her to…be mysterious.

Her victim is Frances McCullen, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, a very busy young actress who appeared in The Equalizer, the Carrie remake, and most recently, 2018's Suspiria. She has an innocent look that makes you cringe when she’s being stalked or doing stupid things. You want to give her parental advice, but remember, she has issues.

Fortunately for Frances, her roommate Erica, played by Maika Monroe turns out to be the best thing in her life, despite many early indications to the contrary. Throughout Greta, it seems Erica is going to wind up being an unintended victim.

Without getting too far into the weeds, Frances finds an abandoned purse on a subway train and decides to return it to its rightful owner, a seemingly nice French lady who invites her in for tea. Oh, the lost & found was conveniently closed, and apparently Frances doesn’t follow guidance we all know by now to alert the police about abandoned parcels or bags. The trap is set, sprung and the prey is easily captured.

And that’s where Greta ratchets up the suspense. Early in the film Frances becomes aware that she has been trapped, and she gets away! Repeatedly! She soon discovers, in the most glaring way that Greta is completely insane, but also very good at being a predator.

This nail-biting ride delivers multiple times, with unforeseen and completely satisfying results. And it’s interesting that Chloe Grace Moretz has Carrie in her portfolio. Unfortunately, her character doesn’t benefit from that experience, since the “Carrie Effect” is at work here as well. If you don’t know the reference, go see the movie.

Greta(2018) runs 1 hour, 39 minutes and is rated R.

Should I see this movie?

Vic’s Flix Movie Review: What Men Want

Here we go again with yet another concussion-begets-enlightenment movie, in a role reversal of 2000’s What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson. That go-round was evidently before women realized they didn’t want…him.

This time we have Taraji P. Henson in the lead role as sports agent Ali Davis, competing in a male dominated occupation as the sole female combatant in a clearly cutthroat business. I must say, I have known only one sports agent and he was among the worst people I’ve ever met. But Ali develops the ability to read men’s thoughts as a result of her head bump, a useful advantage and vivid comic illustration that men are all idiots.

That brings up an interesting trend that I’m hopefully not just imagining. As women secure an increasing number of lead roles, their male co-stars seem to be turning into MeToo fantasies – docile, moral, soft-spoken and male model good looking. They are great dads and easily offended, unless they’re still old-fashioned jerks. The transition is clearly not complete. I won’t give examples. Just be on the lookout for this and let me know if I’m wrong.

Henson had a long run on the eventually tiresome and convoluted Person of Interest, a TV series that started in 2011 as strong as Mr. Reese (Jim Caviezel) but became hopelessly entangled and collapsed upon itself before cancelation in 2016. She moved on to Empire as Cookie Ryan, another strong dramatic role that spanned several seasons, giving her name and face recognition.

In What Men Want, Henson has proved herself a competent comedienne, summoning up enough F-bombs to get her a seat at any male-dominated table. Most notably, she crashes a secret men’s poker night and crushes the likes of Mark Cuban, Shaquille O’Neal and others, eventually allowing Tracy Morgan to win a big hand in a ploy to win his business.

Casting for this film was straight out of The Love Boat, including Tracy Morgan, Pete Davidson, Max Greenfield, Richard Roundtree and the poker cameos mentioned above. It allowed for faster capsizing than suffered by the SS Poseidon using similar protocols. Familiar faces did not shore up the weak and lengthy script, it just distracted from the otherwise pointless story line. Tracy Morgan is loud but unfunny. Pete Davidson’s character was unnecessary. Max Greenfield is one dimensional in his New Girl persona and really shouldn’t venture far from Zooey Deschanel.

Without revealing the setup for the funniest phrase in the movie, I laughed out loud at the line, “Welcome to Wakanda!” It was cute and well played.

Here I have to admit that I briefly fell asleep – twice – while watching What Men Want. Just short of two hours, it felt like three. I guess what this man really wanted was a nap, and this viewing was the perfect sedative.

What Men Want runs 1 hour, 57 minutes and is rated R.

 Should I see this movie?

Vic’s Flix Movie Review: Isn’t It Romantic?

What more appropriate day to see this movie than at its theatrical debut on Valentine’s Day? Isn’t It Romantic is the latest in the alternate reality genre wherein dwell Big, 13 Going on 30 and even It’s a Wonderful Life. It shares a key plot line popularized in 2001’s Shallow Hal, another movie with a message about body shaming and love. In fact, this film is something of a cross between Shallow Hal and When Harry Met Sally. 

What Men Want, currently in theaters, and the upcoming Yesterday also begin with a physical trauma. I can only guess that the success of other scripts has led us to a plethora of movies that use this device, unless there was a recent lazy writers’ seminar on the use of an injury to launch a story into another universe. This is no Matrix.

Unlike I Feel Pretty, in which Amy Schumer’s head trauma leads her to be alone with the illusion of her own extreme beauty, Isn’t It Romantic reverses the paradigm, leaving Rebel Wilson mystified that others see her as a great beauty, living her life in a similarly beautified and sanitized New York neighborhood.

What we have here is a parody of a romantic comedy wrapped in a romantic comedy, and it works quite well. Early in the film there is an unfortunately necessary recitation by Rebel Wilson’s character, Natalie, of the lame, predictable events that occur within romantic comedies, on the chance that the audience has not seen their share of this genre. Let’s consider it a reminder, or foreshadowing. We then see those events acted out in glaring fashion after Natalie’s concussion thrusts her into a PG-rated version of her own life. She can’t even drop an F-bomb without a truck horn bleeping over her utterance.

Now comes the difficult portion of this review, the elephant in the room, which is an unfortunate metaphor in this case. You see, Rebel Wilson is making a career of being the latest large woman on the silver screen. In the style of John Candy, Chris Farley and other male comedians before her, and even Melissa McCarthy and the honest-bodied Amy Schumer, she seems prone to physical comedy about her size. At 5 foot three, she is morbidly obese on any ideal weight chart, and is unapologetically leveraging that attribute to her advantage as she did in Bridesmaids,the Pitch Perfect trilogy and 2019’s The Hustle. Sadly, her character in the Pitch series is known as Fat Amy.

In fact, she is very funny and quite beautiful, or shall we characterize her as “beguiling” as co-star Liam Hemsworth continuously describes her throughout the film’s lengthy dream sequence. It’s hard not to confuse this Hemsworth with his brother Chris, a beefed up version of the Hemsworth good looks dynasty that won him the part of Thor we are all now familiar with. Older brother Luke is also an actor in a litter of blue-eyed stallions.

Adam Devine, the endearing but dorky wannabe boyfriend of daughter Haley in TV’s Modern Family is perfectly cast as Natalie’s friend Josh, true-blue in any universe. He appears destined throughout the film to be Natalie’s rightful boyfriend, and perhaps the frog who would be prince. But here’s another twist, and ultimately the movie’s real message. Natalie needs to learn to love herself, a lesson that takes the full hour and a half to be revealed. Only then can she come out of her coma and accept Josh as something other than a friend and coworker.

This is a feel good movie that bends and shapes several underlying well-worn premises in a fun and engaging trip that is worth the price of admission. There are even a few fun music and dance sequences. You come out of the theater feeling thoroughly entertained and that you’ve also learned a couple of things along the way.

Isn’t It Romantic runs 1 hour, 28 minutes and is rated PG-13

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Vic’s Flix Movie Review: Glass

It has been nineteen years since Bruce Willis emerged as the sole survivor of a horrific train crash in M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable. Somehow, Willis’s character David Dunn was unaware that he was a superhero with super strength, but as I recall, it was a pretty good movie.

In 2016’s Split we were introduced to the two-dozen personalities of the main character whose name is, well, he has two-dozen names. His 24^th personality is a psychopathic superhero called The Beast (James McAvoy), who is out to kill several young girls. It was also a pretty good movie.

It seems that M. Night Shyamalan felt compelled to produce a trilogy rather than just leave well enough alone. Two good movies do not a third guarantee.

Glass is the final chapter in this triad. At least, it should be. The main characters all meet very ordinary ends. Who knew that holding a superhero’s face in a sidewalk puddle is all it takes to destroy him. Yep, that’s the end of David Dunn.

And all you have to do is wait until The Beast is in one of his non-bulletproof personalities to take your shot. Bye bye Beast.

Mr. Glass, the very breakable evil genius played by Samuel L. Jackson is otherwise known as Elijah Price. He spends almost the entire film trying to convince us that he’s not faking his drug-induced zombie-like sedated self. But of course he is. Surprise! And one hard shove is all it takes to shatter him like…glass.

By now we know that a surprise in the form of a climactic mind-bending plot twist is M. Night Shyamalan’s trademark. Unfortunately we now expect to be surprised, so it had better be good. But how can it be when you know it’s coming? The bar continues to rise, and M. Night continues to fall short.

I won’t reveal the twist here, but when it is revealed the viewer finds himself asking, “Is that it? Seriously?” Well, ok.

There was almost no plot in Glass. Three quarters of the very long 129 minutes you’ll never get back is spent building toward an eventual escape from the psychiatric facility run by a woman who looks like Kristen Wiig’s humorless red-headed sister, Ellie Staple, played by Sarah Paulson. She tries to convince the superheroes that they are not at all super.

Along comes Casey Cooke, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. She is the only girl released by The Beast in Split. She must have survivor’s syndrome, or didn’t feel that Tinder was an effective enough means of finding the perfect psychopath.

If you saw the first two films in this series and really enjoy the characters, perhaps you’ll appreciate this reunion. Otherwise, go to a movie that features more conventional superheroes – the ones who wear cool costumes.

Glass (2019) runs 2 hours, 9 minutes and is rated PG-13

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Vic’s Flix Movie Review: Eighth Grade

How did we miss a movie that was included in The Week magazine’s list of the top ten of 2018? Perhaps MoviePass never included it in their own list of allowable films at our local theater. That particular program was one of our favorites for part of the year, until it became utterly useless and we left it behind. And that’s probably good, since we were substituting movie theater snacks for our dinner an unhealthy number of times.

But I digress. Eighth Grade was indeed a movie worth seeing, and one to recommend, with one caveat: if you hated the year in school chronicled in this film as much as I did, you’ll be curled up in a fetal position by the time the movie reaches its mid point. Writer and director Bo Burnham masterfully portrays that awkward time in our development from the perspective of lead actress Elsie Fisher’s wonderful portrayal of Kayla Day, a pimply faced middle-schooler who broadcasts her thoughts and advice on YouTube to an audience of perhaps zero to one.

In 2006 Bo Burnham himself burst onto laptop screens as a real life YouTube sensation, playing piano and singing funny original songs about his own insecurities. Now only age 27, he has since attracted over 250 million views and has achieved award-worthy recognition for his first feature film.

The role of social media in this film, and in our lives, cannot be overstated. Burnham knows it and nails it. Josh Hamilton, playing Mark Day, struggles to connect with tuned-out Kayla at the dinner table. He is able to gain only one-word responses from his social media distracted daughter, who is horrified at the idea of having a conversation with her father. He digs himself into a deeper and deeper hole by insisting that she unplug just long enough to talk at length about one thing – just one thing. Later he seals his fate by secretly following her on a trip to the mall where she hangs out with new friends for the first time.

Kayla’s transformation from sixth grader to high-schooler by way of middle school becomes a tangible and painful trip down memory lane when the graduating class is presented with individual time capsules created two years earlier. The brightly decorated shoebox is filled with memorabilia and a video message-in-a-bottle carried from the past by a SpongeBob thumb drive. A surreal video from sixth grade Kayla asks future Kayla, “Do you have a boyfriend? Are you an amazing person?” Confronting her former self results in a scene that I won’t entirely divulge here. It is a heartwarming father/daughter exchange over a backyard bonfire in which Dad finally gets it right.

There are pivotal moments in life, if you’re a self-aware deeper thinker, not unlike the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly. I recall a time in fifth grade when some of my friends first became interested in girls. Suddenly, it seemed as if they got on a bus that several of us hadn’t even seen coming. It was the day I asked my friend Bill, “Hey, you wanna play baseball” and was met with, “No, I’m hanging out with Kelly, Barry and Andrea today.” Not everyone morphs at the same time or in the same way. Bill was also the first person I knew to get a divorce, well before our ten-year high school reunion. The rest of us got on a bus too. Just not that first one.

Along Kayla’s journey are Aiden, played by Luke Prael. He’s the sleepy-eyed cool kid who strolls through scenes to a music track of Kayla’s own imagining. Her crush leads her to boast to him about her library of nude selfies. That gets his attention, and he then asks if she does another very specific attention getting thing. She runs home to do some research and is essentially grossed out by what she finds on Google. 

The transition to high school comes complete with a shadow program. Enter Olivia (Emily Robinson), a wonderfully positive role model who includes Kayla in her own group of friends, but inadvertently sets in motion a situation that potentially heads toward date rape. This is a painful scene that leaves the viewer wondering just what kind of turn this movie is going to take.

Along comes Gabe (Jake Ryan), an awkward chance encounter at a pool party scene slightly reminiscent of The Graduate, whose snorkel and diving mask certify his membership in nerd culture. He is more at Kayla’s level, and eventually has her over for a dinner of chicken nuggets and french fries. He adorably presents Kayla with a row of every flavor of dipping sauce in a neatly arranged line of brightly colored containers. His heart is right where it belongs at this critical time in Kayla’s evolution.

I’ve frequently thought about going back to school. I think second or third grade would be about right. It definitely wouldn’t be eighth grade. But if you’d like to immerse yourself for ninety minutes in that particular crucible of terror where budding adolescents are locked away for two years for lack of a better institution, you’ll thoroughly enjoy being there. It's the womb where mean girls are born, hormones begin to boil over and childhood ends. Just be glad when you move on to high school. Of course, that’s an entirely more horrifying story. Perhaps Burnham’s next project? By all means, see Eighth Grade. But don’t watch it with your own eighth grader. They’ll run screaming.

Eighth Grade (2018) runs one hour, 33 minutes and is rated R.

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Vic’s Flix Movie Review: On The Basis of Sex

As prominently displayed on screen during a recent viewing of On The Basis of Sex, the year is 1956 when Ruth Ginsberg enters Harvard law school, one of nine women allowed to do so in a class of 500 men. And “allowed” pretty much captures the sentiment of the men in charge in that dark time. It was also the year I turned two, so I find it amazing that I grew up completely immersed in a culture of unenlightened people and archaic laws. I thought the 1960s were pretty cool. Guess not.

Flash forward to 1970, and several other dates along the way. I have a problem with stop action cinematic history, especially when filmmakers can only explain a timeline with titles on screen. It results in a film that lacks nuance, desperately seeking anecdotal highlights in a person’s life to develop a story. But this is quite a story.

Although women won the right to vote in 1920, the Equal Rights Amendment, first introduced in 1971 was never ratified by enough states to become a constitutional amendment. In the early 1970s hundreds of antiquated laws remained on the books, limiting jobs for fear of women leaving their “intended role” inside the home. Queue Ginsberg, who buys into the notion that, concerning the law, “We must not be guided by the weather of the day, but by the climate of the era.” She decides to tackle a key case that establishes precedent for future cases, literally changing history in the process.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg is all the rage right now. RBG, as she is known, is hip, fierce, smart, tenacious and really, really old. She’s a living legend who vows to keep on living and serving on the Supreme Court as long as a Republican president is in power. Her seat on the court is priceless. Played in the film by a very youthful Felicity Jones, age 35, I had trouble reconciling the RBG we see on the news with the actress playing a young RBG, especially during love scenes. I had to force myself not to see the image above on the right and assume that Ruth was once young and Felicity-like. And in fact, she was. Roll tape.

Married to fellow law student Martin Ginsberg, played by Armie Hammer, who could be a stand-in for Captain America, the power couple takes on Harvard, even when Marty is so ill that Ruth sits in on his classes as well as her own, typing his papers and conveying lecture material while he rests on the couch. Maybe SHE is Captain America!

One unacknowledged character in this film is the typewriter. We see it evolve from a fully manual Smith-Corona to an IBM correcting Selectric, all in the capable hands of women, because that’s what women were allowed to do. Somewhere along the line there must have been a male secretary. I was one, but not until 1986. In fact, I related to those who pounded out legal briefs, since I typed some of my best friend’s papers while he worked in the Appeals Division of the Cook County States Attorney’s office. They are cumbersome typing jobs.

Justin Theroux plays Mel Wulf, an over-acting (or maybe just over-scripted) aggressive ACLU legal director who teams up with Ginsberg at her request to take on a seemingly unwinnable case. Perhaps he was this animated in real life, but he seemed exaggerated and kind of corny.

Sam Waterston is in his usual form as Erwin Griswold, Dean of the Harvard Law School who later became Solicitor General of the United States, an intense Washington-type character he was born to play. He’s good in just about any role.

Kathy Bates plays the quirky feminist and civil rights attorney, Dorothy Kenyon, who once lost a key case, and is now somewhat reclusive and combative. She wants nothing to do with Ginsberg, who idolizes her, but reluctantly comes around when she needs a favor from Wulf.

Jones is not entirely convincing as the brilliant and aggressive young Ruth Bader Ginsberg and seemed to have trouble consistently emulating her New York accent, if any. There it is. Oh, now it’s gone. Was I hearing things? She is also frequently seen rapidly walking through crowds, a counterpoint to her diminutive stature (she’s short), having “Aha” moments that light up her face and cause her to change direction. Oh boy, something cool is about to happen!

The Ginsberg character in this film was seemingly caught between the influence of a demanding mother, who wanted her to change the world, and her budding feminist daughter, who asks, “Why change the world, if not for me?”

On The Basis of Sex (or should we say gender, as one sensitive typist suggests) is recommended if you think you’ll enjoy a bio-drama about lawyers. They throw around enough legal jargon to engender authenticity, almost to the point at which you’ve had enough and would rather they just tell the story. And I think they fall short of completing the story, since the film ends long before Ginsberg’s eventual appointment as the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. For that perhaps you need to watch CNN’s movie entitled simply RBG.

On The Basis of Sex (2018) runs 2 hours and is rated PG-13

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Vic’s Flix Movie Review: Mary Poppins Returns

I honestly wasn’t looking forward to seeing Mary Poppins Returns. But now that I have, I almost feel as if I need to see the original again to review it fairly, given that I haven’t seen it in 55 years. But this is not a remake, after all. It’s the return of Mary Poppins, so it needs to stand on its own. And as I watched, I found that somewhat ancient memories leaped to the forefront of my mind like Lin-Manuel Miranda jumping from a ladder onto a cobblestone street.

When Disney gets it right, it’s as if they step into a time machine with all of the available current talent and technology and take a trip to the past. First, they made a stop in 1964, capturing the essence of the original film, then they took a trip to depression era London in 1910 to film live action. But of course, they didn’t, and I would love to hear the pitch some visionary made to suggest they make this movie. Is Mary Poppins still relevant in an era like ours, where special effects require that things blow up or fly at high speed around and through obstacles?

The sets look like they were borrowed from Disney’s version of A Christmas Carol, made in 2009. But wait, that film was made entirely with 3D computer generated imagery, so these sets are all new, real and beautifully done. Lighting in dreary London, especially by lamp light at night must have been a huge filming challenge. Darkness, fog and flame all integrate beautifully around choreographed lamp-lighters in a scene reminiscent of the rooftop chimney sweep sequence in the ’64 Poppins.

To avoid spoilers, I’ll skip details. The songs are new, catchy and delivered beautifully by Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda. And I’m just guessing, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Miranda had a hand in the writing of at least one of them. Think Snow White meets Hamilton.

When the first animated sequence began my heart sank. I hate when 2D characters are superimposed over live action on screen, much like the dancing penguins in the original. But that’s just where it started, and within about a minute I was impressed by the seamless integration of the two media. I also realized that the blended approach was a necessary part of telling the story. Several minutes later it became absolutely stunning during a lengthy and intricate chase scene through an imaginary world. Don’t tell me how they did it. I just want to enjoy the magic of it all.

There are numerous clever and subtle nods to the 1964 incarnation of Poppins. Short musical phrases, spoken statements, images and of course, several cameo appearances that are really special.

Emily Blunt is perfect as Poppins. She’s a talented singer, and as a British actress stepping into some very large (Julie Andrews) shoes, she nails the somewhat snarky personality of the flying nanny perfectly. Speaking of Julie Andrews, she does not make a a cameo appearance in this film. She was offered an unspecified role and immediately turned it down, not wanting to step on Emily Blunt’s shoes. Always gracious, that queen of Genovia. And if comparisons had to be made, there is something more delicate about Julie Andrews face. Side by side, they are both very pretty, but Emily Blunt has a subtle hard edge, perhaps caused by coming to grips with a monster that required absolute silence in her last role as Evelyn Abbott in A Quiet Place.

Lin-Manuel Miranda can apparently do anything. The Hamilton genius sings, dances, and raps his way through the streets of London with a suitable Cockney accent and a grin that betrays how much he’s enjoying this role.

When I saw that Meryl Streep was in Mary Poppins Returns I was disappointed. Can’t they make a successful film without her being in it? But she was almost unrecognizable, and did a great job with a truly quirky character called Cousin Topsy.

Take the family to see Mary Poppins Returns, no matter how loud the protests. The audience applauded when it was over. High praise for a PG rated film that runs two hours and ten minutes. It flew by, so to speak.

And if you’ve completely lost your inner child, perhaps you’ll like Colin Firth’s evil character. There’s always a thoroughly dislikeable villain in a Disney film. If you still don’t care to see it, well pish, posh, go fly a kite.

Mary Poppins Returns (2018) runs 2 hours, 10 minutes and is rated PG.

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Vic’s Flix Movie Review: The Mule

Massive spoiler alert: I’m going to reveal most of the content of The Mule, so you don’t have to sit through it yourself. It’s not horrible, but I turned to my wife half way through the film and whispered, “This movie is stupid!”

That said, I really like Clint Eastwood movies. At least, I used to. But imagine if your favorite professional baseball player was allowed to continue running the bases well into his 80s. At 88 years of age, Clint continues to produce, direct and star in movies that draw crowds primarily because of his legendary career and star power. He still has that “Do I feel lucky?” attitude he became famous for in 1971’s Dirty Harry, his perennial scowl and chiseled good looks, even with wrinkles and thinning white hair. But he’s almost become a parody of himself, and I think he realizes it. It’s a shame, because he’s directed many fine movies, starred in countless classics, and is responsible for several iconic sayings, not the least of which is, “Go ahead, make my day,” from Sudden Impact in 1983. Perhaps the movie Gran Torino in 2008 should have been his acting swan song.

The film starts at a frantic pace with a series of short segments that had me wondering if the movie might only be thirty minutes long. Clint plays aging horticulturist Earl Stone who has chosen career over family his entire married life. Only his granddaughter has a good relationship with him, but he later risks ruining that too. It’s at her engagement party that he makes a connection that leads to his new job as a drug mule. He starts taking cross-country trips and making wads of cash that he spends as fast as he’s paid. Some of it is to help friends and family. Much of it goes for jewelry, women, a new truck, and his wreck of a foreclosed house. A fool and his money…

It was as if they were in a hurry to fully explain the key relationships and the main character’s personal history, and then get on with the story. That these details couldn’t be revealed along the way is just lazy scriptwriting. I wondered if Eastwood also wrote this script, given the number of attractive young women he has scenes with, dancing, or, well, other stuff. Maybe that’s just why he liked the script.

Speaking of that, I really didn’t want to see the legendary Clint Eastwood with his shirt off at almost 90 years of age. Not even while he quipped about needing a cardiologist as two Mexican prostitutes showed him a good time at the behest of a drug kingpin. His old age becomes a vehicle for inappropriate humor. The old guy doesn’t realize, or care, that society has advanced beyond the offensive terms and comments he tosses casually around, seeming perversely charming at the same time. Nick Schenk, who wrote Gran Torino, delivered this script as well. You don’t need to be a great writer if you score Clint Eastwood’s directorial support. And the plot itself is fairly interesting given that it’s loosely based on a true story.

By now we all know that drug kingpins sit in chairs waiting to be visited by characters in movies, smoking cigars, drinking heavily and acting like a favorite uncle until they get angry. Then they suddenly toggle into sinister, explosive monsters that frighten all the tattooed, muscle-bound Mexicans that work for them. The swimming pool filled to overflowing with bikini-clad chicas is always right there in the background. I can’t even imagine the wild fluctuations of pH and chlorine levels in that sex soup.

But Eastwood seems to thrive on clichés, because he has sort of become one. I hated when Hollywood scriptwriters realized that catchphrases could go culturally viral and started trying way too hard to come up with the next big line. If there was an attempt to create one in this film, I missed it. But it was sort of amusing when Bradley Cooper commented that, “You guys (meaning old) get to the point where you don’t have filters” and Eastwood responds, “I never thought I had one.”

I’m sure Bradley Cooper agreed to be in The Mule for the honor of being directed by Clint Eastwood – again. His first turn was in American Sniper. Brad may be the heir apparent to Eastwood’s place on the silver screen, hopefully right after The Mule. Brad plays a DEA agent whose boss, Laurence Fishburne, is repeatedly on his back to “get more busts. We need busts.” Oh, he’s under pressure to make arrests? I get it.

In The Mule we get to meet Alison Eastwood, Clint’s real life daughter, who plays…his daughter. And Diane Wiest plays Clint’s wife, haranguing him all the way to her grave about his absence as a husband and father, with a death scene in which her overly Botoxed lips looked like a series of duck mouth selfies as she gasps for her last breath again and again. Taissa Farmiga, who plays the granddaughter, has possibly the most awkward, worst acted scene in the movie.

Earl is eventually caught in a very non-climactic police chase and barricade. By this time, police and cartel members all seem to sort of pity or like him, displaying their well known sympathetic sides. I guess caustic old guys just have a way of worming their way into your heart.

The final scene of the movie is filmed at Marion Correctional Center in Illinois, where Earl is happily tending the prison gardens. It’s reminiscent of Bird Man of Alcatraz, which is ironic, since Eastwood starred in Escape From Alcatraz in 1979 – 40 years ago!

If you like hardy-har-har casual racist humor and an endless road trip with Clint Eastwood, this film’s for you. If you’re a diehard Eastwood fan, and you’ve seen every one of his films, wait for this one to come out on TV to complete your viewing portfolio. As his daughter quips when Earl is escorted away to prison, “At least we’ll know where you are.”

The Mule (2018) runs 1 hour, 56 minutes and is rated R

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