Tag: Mystery

“Internal Affairs” (1990) starring Richard Gere, Andy Garcia, Nancy Travis, Laurie Metcalf, & William Baldwin

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Vicious manipulations and power games between men made all the more dramatic being set inside a police drama. –Gene Siskel

A young/Hispanic cop, Raymond Avila (Andy Garcia- aged 33), has just joined the Internal Affairs bureau of the LAPD. He and his partner, Amy Wallace (Laurie Metcalf), get a case involving a young/hot-headed patrolman known for getting rough w/ suspects, Van Stretch (William Baldwin). However, they soon come to realize that Stretch’s more experienced partner, Dennis Peck (Richard Gere- aged 40), might be at the root of many illegal activities. This is a movie that seems of its time, yet also ahead of it’s time; issues incl. domestic violence, racism, adultery, and police corruption are explored.

As Garcia explained on the pod WTF with Marc Maron, Paramount selected this movie for him; one of its producers (Frank Mancuso) became like a father-figure to the actor. This was Mike Figgis’ 1st American movie; Garcia brought the British/indie director onto the project (for his fresh takes). I’m a fan of Garcia; I don’t know why he didn’t become a bigger star. (I even saw the movie he directed a few yrs ago- it was pretty good.) Gere has the more fascinating role as a multi-layered villain who manipulates (almost) everyone around him! Did y’all know that this movie came out the same year as Pretty Woman!? As some critics/fans commented, the haircuts may be bad (too short), BUT the jeans fit V well! In the scene where his character is introduced, there is a long/close-up shot on Baldwin’s butt.

Dennis Peck [to Van Stretch]: How many cops you know, huh? Got nothing. Divorced, alcoholic, kids won’t talk to them anymore, can’t get it up. Sitting there in their little apartments, alone in the dark, playing lollipop with a service revolver?

From the opening scenes, Peck is the “Alpha” among his circle; he puts a knife into the hand of the unarmed dead man to cover for the young/Black cop who shot him, Dorian Fletcher (Michael Beach). There is an instant dislike btwn Avila (ambitious) and Peck (working on the street); I learned that Garcia and Gere didn’t get along during filming. These two characters glare at each other w/ such animosity that we feel a fight could break out at any minute. Given his erratic schedule, Avila misses out on quality time w/ his wife/manager of an art gallery, Kathleen (Nancy Travis). Peck thinks of himself as a “family man;” he lives in a spacious house w/ a pool. He’s on his 4th marriage; his current wife is Heather (Annabella Sciorra), and father to 8 kids (no joke)!

It’s NOT easy to be in police work; the conditions can be V rough and the pay quite low (so that many cops have off-duty jobs). Peck helps Fletcher get a 2nd job at a good location; he counsels Van Stretch to return to his family- wife/banker Penny (Faye Grant) and young son. However, there have always been some who are “a disgrace to the uniform;” in one scene Peck is in bed w/ Penny fully clothed in his uniform. In another scene, Peck (in a calm tone w/ quiet menace) opens Stretch’s button-down and gently pats his chest down (looking for a wire) w/ one hand, while playing tea party w/ his daughter w/ the other hand.

Man, Gere was nasty in that movie- Internal Affairs! -Marc Maron

Yeah, Gere was terrific in that movie! – Andy Garcia

[1] Gere is on best form here, playing a character against type, he is the embodiment of corruption, deceit and murder. Garcia is also excellent as Raymond, who blends his actions well from good into bad. Metcalf is excellent as Garcia’s partner…

[2] Internal Affairs is a character study at it’s finest. There are few films out there that can compare to this one and that can be attributed to the director, Mike Figgis. He hits every note perfectly and the performances he gets from his cast is such a joy to watch.

[3] Gere fires on all cylinders in this performance, full of swagger and aggression, with a character that would easily dupe you into believing he’s on your side, while all the while setting up your execution. 

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews

“Eileen” (2023) starring Thomasin McKenzie & Anne Hathaway

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The stagnant waters of Eileen’s dull, stifled life as a solitary worker at a juvenile detention center in 1960s Boston, are unexpectedly disrupted when the institution brings in a new psychologist, the vibrant Rebecca. The fervent enthusiasm that blossoms between the two women almost immediately gives way to a closer relationship, until their fragile connection takes a dramatic turn. -Synopsis

You have to hand it to Anne Hathaway- she’s trying new things! Now, these roles aren’t all going to fit her right. As Rebecca, she wears a platinum wig (like a femme fatale from the days of noir). However, the real dangerous lady here is played by Thomasin McKenzie, a young/20ish Aussie actress w/ a LOT of talent. So far, I’ve seen McKenzie in Jojo Rabbit, The Power of the Dog, and Old. Eileen has a difficult home life, dead-end job, and “girl next door” looks (which helps the audience empathize w/ her plight). Elieen lives w/ her alcoholic/retired cop father, played by prolific character actor Shea Wigham.

The director, William Oldroyd, is a Brit who we can thank for “discovering” the FAB Florence Pugh (who was the lead in his debut/indie Lady Macbeth). This movie is inspired (in part) by Todd Fields’ critically-acclaimed drama Carol (which starred Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara). The 1st hour is intriguing, BUT that sense of anticipation is let down in the last half hour; the story is undercooked. I kept thinking that something was missing. What was the point here? FYI: There is a plot twist (involving another character) which could be difficult for sensitive viewers. Overall, I was disappointed, as I had high hopes for this movie!

“Leave the World Behind” (2023) starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, & Ethan Hawke

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There’s No Going Back to Normal. -Tagline for the movie

Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay (Ethan Hawke) Sandford leave the hustle of NYC (Brooklyn) for a quiet/ Long Island vacay w/ their 2 teen kids: 17 y.o. Archie (Charlie Evans- a 19 y.o. Aussie actor/musician) and 13 y.o. Rose (Farrah Mackenzie- now 19 y.o.) Their trip is interrupted by the arrival of a middle-aged man, G.H Scott (Mahershala Ali), and his 20-ish daughter, Ruth (Myaha’la), who own this luxury rental house. The Scotts (dressed to the nines for the Bronx Symphony) decided to leave the city when a blackout occurred. When the internet, TV, and radio stop working, as well as the landline, there is no way of finding out what is exactly happening! Loud sonic booms shatter the peace, animals start to migrate to weird places, and the physical/mental health of both families begins to disintegrate. As the renters are white and the owners are Black, issues of race clash and become distractions to the more disturbing events happening around them.

Amanda: Well, when I couldn’t fall back asleep this morning, I came over here. To watch the sunrise. And I saw all these people starting their day with such tenacity. Such verve. All in an effort to… make something of themselves. Make something of our world. I felt so lucky to be a part of that. But then, I remembered… what the world is actually like. And I came to a more accurate realization. I f*****g hate people.

My parents really valued assimilation. They were leaving a political system that had failed, and there was no desire on the part of either of my parents to look back with any rose-colored perspective. We were there to be American. They were extremely clear about that. I was raised like any other white kid in any other nice house in any other fancy American suburb. -Rumaan Alam (author of the source novel Leave the World Behind) in Vulture: September 15, 2020.

With Amanda, we get to dissect white entitlement, and I thought, What a fascinating challenge for America’s sweetheart [Julia Roberts] to examine that privilege. -Sam Esmail (director/screenwriter) in Vulture: September 15, 2020.

Yup, you heard right- former prez Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are producers on this movie! Netflix won a bidding war for the rights to the novel by Rumaan Alam (a queer/Bangladeshi-American writer) in July 2020. Alam and his husband (photographer David Land) are raising two Black sons in Brooklyn; he has written re: adoptive fatherhood in NYT. Sam Esmail (best known for Mr. Robot) was attached to write/direct the movie; he is Egyptian-American. This is the 3rd collab btwn. Esmail and Roberts after Gaslit (2022) and S1 of Homecoming (2018). Leave the World Behind had its world premiere at the AFI Fest on October 25, 2023. It was released (select theaters) on November 22nd, then hit Netflix on December 8th.

G. H. Scott: A conspiracy theory about a shadowy group of people running the world is far too lazy of an explanation… especially when the truth is much scarier.

Amanda: What is the truth?

G. H. Scott: No one is in control. No one is pulling the strings.

The central Q posed here: What has modern life made of us? We are focused on tech and ourselves, so perhaps are losing what makes us human. There is plenty of meta commentary in this movie; for EX: Roberts’ character’s daughter, Rose, is obsessed w/ Friends (1994). The girl becomes V anxious when unable to stream the series finale. Many viewers (esp. near by age) will recall that Roberts was a guest star in one ep of the hit comedy series; she also dated Matthew Perry. Rose doesn’t get much empathy from Archie, who is the typical down-beat/self-concerned boy. Some viewers commented on his resemblance to a young Adam Driver: tall, pale, slim, w/ long-ish dark hair. I had somewhat high hopes for this movie, as the cast is good and the premise is intriguing. Several viewers noted that Hawke is playing a version of himself, which I felt also. This movie is TOO long (2 hrs. 18 mins) and lacks pacing (momentum); there are a few scenes w/ good tension.

[1] I think the movie was timely. COVID accelerated our isolation with everyone living in their own realities of happiness. I recommend watching this movie and thinking about how our world is rapidly changing. How many of us would be perfectly happy living in our bunkers of our own making with our own devices watching our own shows not needing to pay attention to the outside world? The movie takes it to the extreme with bombs dropping right outside, but I thought the point was powerful.

[2] It’s supposed to be a deep, political exploration of what would happen to the average citizen if America were to be destabilized. And the answer is: they’d sit around and wander around and generally mope around. That’s very boring. Nothing about this movie hits. Nothing about this movie hits any of the right notes. I want my time back!

[3] And if 2023 has shown us anything, it’s revealed to more and more people that maybe we’re just cogs turning in a vast machine that we can’t possibly understand. There are forces shaping the world that are bigger than our individual capacities, and maybe too complex for us to collectively confront. We lack a common cause. Because we often can’t even agree on what the problem is. And where we can and do see problems we only see the surface problems. We band-aid things, and we swat flies. But we’re not building the solutions that we need to build a better future.

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews

Spoiler-Free Review: “The Lesson” (2023) starring Richard E. Grant, Julie Delpy, & Daryl McCormack

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This indie movie (filmed mostly in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic) is the 1st feature of director Alice Troughton; she directed TV shows in the UK and US. An Oxford grad/aspiring young writer, Liam Somers (Daryl McCormack), takes a tutoring position at the quiet/beautiful country estate of a famous novelist, J.M. Sinclair (Richard E. Grant). The teen son of this writer, Bertie (Stephen McMillan), desperately wants to attend Oxford; he was recently short-listed to the school (NOT accepted yet). Bertie’s mom is an artist, Helene (Julie Delpy); she’s the parent Liam will report to re: his progress. Liam is sometimes invited to have dinner w/ the family; he soon realizes that the estate holds dark secrets.

This ones for us literary nerds, former (or current) teachers, and/or fans of neo noir. The Lesson had its premiere at the Tribeca film fest (co-founded by Robert DeNiro). One of my Bangladeshi friends went into film production; she had an internship w/ this organization about 15 yrs ago. As many viewers/critics noted, Grant does a great job here; this role is meatier than the one in Saltburn (2023). It’s V cool to see Delpy (who is aging gracefully) in a role outside of indie filmmaker Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. The French actress gets to show a different side to her acting.

Irish actors (incl. Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan, and Paul Mescal) are getting a LOT of press lately; McCormack (now 31) is coming up right behind those critically acclaimed stars. After barely missing out on a role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he starred opposite Emma Thompson in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022). The actor had to be quite vulnerable, incl. being unclothed in most scenes; he did a terrific job going toe-to-toe w/ a screen veteran. In 2023, McCormack was nominated for the EE BAFTA Rising Star Award, along w/ Naomi Ackie, Shelia Atim, Emma Mackey, and Aimee Lou Wood. I think he has a good chance of breaking into Hollywood; he is tall (6’2″), w/ large hazel eyes, and a lean (yet still muscular) physique. McCormack has dual UK-US citizenship, as his mother (who raised him) is white/Irish and father is Black American (from Baltimore, MD).


[1] I found “The Lesson” an engaging mystery.

[2] The performances here are some of the very best of 2023.

[3] Writer Alex MacKeith never lets go of the notion that writing as a profession or art can send writers down a dark path. […]

Isobel Waller-Bridge’s score tinkles enough to suggest tranquility or at least art films in general. Anna Patarakina’s cinematography captures languid summers at wealthy estates.

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews

“The Gift” (2015) starring Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, & Joel Edgerton

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The Past Will Be Your Present. -Tagline for the movie

Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) are a young married couple whose life is going just as planned until a chance encounter with an acquaintance from Simon’s high school sends their world into a harrowing tailspin. Simon doesn’t recognize Gordo (Joel Edgerton) at first, but after a series of uninvited encounters and mysterious gifts prove troubling, a horrifying secret from the past is uncovered after more than 20 years. As Robyn learns the unsettling truth about what happened between Simon and Gordo, she starts to question: how well do we really know the people closest to us, and are past bygones ever really bygones? -Synopsis (STX)

This is the 1st film written/directed/produced by Aussie actor Joel Edgerton; I hadn’t seen much of his work before. As he wanted to focus on directing, Edgerton filmed his scenes as Gordo after 2 wks of shooting and completed them in 7 days. He had his hair dyed reddish-brown and wore brown contacts; he naturally has brown hair and blue eyes. This is a 3-hander w/ Edgerton, Bateman (who grew up acting), and Hall (an under-rated British actress from many indies). The cast fit their roles V well; Bateman is known as an easygoing/likeable guy (who the audience will want to root for), while Hall is able to convey strength and vulnerability (w/o saying much).

I’ve been bullied and I’ve also been the bully. –Joel Edgerton (filmmaker) on the theme of the movie

Simon and Gordo grew up near this town in SoCal; Simon and Robyn recently moved into a mid-century modern house (w/ a LOT of glass). Simon has a new job at a big architectural firm; Robyn works from home as an interior designer. They seem to have a loving/strong marriage and want to have kids soon. Edgerton (who has a smaller role than Bateman and Hall) plays Gordo as a socially awkward striver eager to please. He leaves several gifts for the couple; secrets are eventually revealed re: Gordo’s connection to Simon. Bateman gets to stretch himself (show his range) here, esp. in the final act. This is a rare thriller that has (unexpected) thrills, even IF you’re a fan/know this genre well. It is best to go in NOT knowing much; this story will keep you on the edge of your seat (w/ its clever direction).