Category Archives: Doc’s Movie Reviews

No Hard Feelings

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Raunchy comedies can be great or they can be horrendous. Comedy is so subjective and many times I do not like the movies that fall into that raunchy category. However, No Hard Feelings starring Jennifer Lawrence looked funny from the trailers and I was hoping that this one would be a lot of fun.

According to IMDB, “On the brink of losing her home, Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) finds an intriguing job listing: helicopter parents looking for someone to bring their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before college. She has one summer to make him a man or die trying.”

Andrew Barth Feldman played that 19-year-old son, Percy, and he did a fantastic job of if. He and Jennifer Lawrence made a wonderful pairing, which is one of the reasons why No Hard Feelings worked as well as it did. If you did not like the two lead characters, this film would have been doomed.

Now, this movie was surely predictable. As soon as Percy’s parents told Maddie that Percy could not know that they were hiring her to “date” their son, it was clear what was going to happen. The thing is that predictable does not necessarily mean bad. A movie can be predictable and still be effective if executed properly. And No Hard Feelings id a good job with its humor and its situations that they placed Maddie and Percy into.

I guess this film is not as ‘raunchy’ as I thought it was going to be, which is probably another reason why I liked it more than I thought I might. It had its moments, but it could have been way worse than what we got.

My favorite scene was the skinny dipping scene, but not necessarily for the reason you may think. I do not know how to go into this without spoiling it, so I will just say that this moment was awesome for several reasons.

I also wanted to shout out the supporting roles of Percy’s parents, Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti, and Maddie’s best friends, Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur.

No Hard Feelings had two lead stars that were funny and charming together. They were easy to like and that made a predictable storyline less likely to be a problem. Jennifer Lawrence was committed to the comedic aspects of the film and was not afraid to take it that extra step.

3.75 stars

The Elephant Whisperers (2022)

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June 23, 2023

I have a busy day today at the movie theater; in order to fit everything in to the schedule today, I had to make plans for the June Swoon 2. What I planned was to watch a short this morning. The short I decided on was on Netflix and had been the Academy Award winning short for Best Documentary short at this previous Oscar ceremony. It was called The Elephant Whisperers.

This doc took us to India where we meet an indigenous couple named Bomman and Bellie, who were able to raise two orphaned baby elephants. At first, they were given responsibility over a calf named Raghu, who was frail and sickly. Bomman and Bellie cared for the baby elephant and a bond grew between them. From the great success that they had shown with Raghu, the park rangers of the Mudumalai National Park entrusted them with a second baby elephant named Ammu.

Watching the interactions with the elephants and Bomman and Bellie was fascinating and beautiful. The couple truly treated the elephants as part of their family. Bellie spoke of the loss of one of her own children, a daughter, and how Raghu was able to comfort her, literally wiping away her tears. This was a poignant moment in the doc.

The doc showed the elephant kicking a soccer ball around, playing freely like any little kid might.

The imagery and picturesque shots of the park made The Elephant Whisperers even grander than it would have been. Director Kartiki Gonsalves made her film debut with this documentary, spending five years with the family of the Kattunayakan tribe.

The 41 minute short is a beautiful piece of art and shows a close relationship between humans and elephants. The film does a great job of showing the bond between them and the feelings shown by both human and animal.

Significant Other (2022)

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June 22, 2023

Day: 22, Movie:22

As we are starting toward the last week and a half of the June Swoon 2, there are some films that I have never heard of before. Significant Others is one of those. I found it while going through Prime (it looks like it was on Paramount +) and the premise sounded decent. The Rotten Tomatoes score was fresh so I put this on the list.

Unfortunately, I did not like this one much at all.

A couple go hiking on a trail and plan to spend time in the wilderness. Harry (Jake Lacy) was much more excited about the trip than Ruth (Maika Monroe) was, but harry had more on his mind. After hiking awhile and setting up camp, Harry proposed marriage to Ruth. However, Ruth is very anxious about marriage and she had a panic attack.

The next day, they find a dead deer, covered with some kind of black goo. Harry thought it had some kind of disease. Ruth came across a cave that held a surprising truth that she was not expecting.

I won’t go any farther to eliminate any spoilers, but this film took a big step down from this point on. I had some tension building at first as I wondered what was going to happen in these woods. When it happened, things changed dramatically, including a tone that bounced all over the place.

The film was short, but felt longer than it was. The performances were fine and the film looked decent. Still, I feel that much of the story went off the track after awhile.

Honor Society (2022)

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June 21, 2023

Day: 21, Movie: 21

Today’s June Swoon 2 film was a real surprise. Honor Society is a coming-of-age comedy that was on Prime (Paramount +, I believe) starring a strong cast of young actors in a very creative and unexpectedly funny movie.

Honor (Angourie Rice) was a senior hoping to escape the town she lived in by getting a recommendation to Harvard from her sleazy guidance counselor, Mr. Calvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). She discovered that she was one of four potential candidates for his recommendation and she decided to go out of her way to bring the other three candidates down.

Honor is also our narrator for the movie, breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the camera during each scene. This worked extremely well because of the charming nature of Angourie Rice. It also helped us get inside the head of Honor, whose behaviors and actions were pretty rotten. Because she kept speaking to us and explaining the thought process behind everything, Honor avoided becoming one of the ‘mean girls’ that typically populate this kind of movie.

In fact, although the group of characters in this movie certainly fall into the normally stereotypical tropes of a coming-of-age movie, these characters defy those expected roles.

As Honor is moving through her plans, you can see the development of the character and the lessons she learns along the way. You knew something was going to come crashing down at some point, because it always does in this style of movie. However, I will say that Honor Society pulled off a late movie twist that I did not see coming that played with all of the expected tropes. I was very impressed with the reveal in this film.

Mind you, things turn out a little too nicely, with the feel of a sitcom. The way this high school film ended this story was too perfect for it to be realistic, but it did feel like something more fantastical than a realistic portrayal so I did not hold that against it.

The cast was excellent. Gaten Matarazzo, Armani Jackson, Any Keum, Kelcey Mawema, Avery Konrad, Kerry Butler, Danny Wattley, Miku Patricia Martineau, Andres Collantes and Michael P. Northey are all great in their roles. Gaten Matarazzo gave an especially strong performance here, getting to do more than he has done on Stranger Things.

I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It was a lot of fun, filled with a fantastical story mechanic and plenty of laughs. Angourie Rice was very charming and she is so likable, even when her character is pulling things that you shouldn’t be liking. A hoot of a film.

The Justice of Bunny King (2022)

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June 20, 2023

Day: 20, Movie: 20

Today’s June Swoon 2 film was one that I found on Peacock the other day as I was searching for more 2022 movies to add to the list. It is a film from New Zealand directed by Gaysorn Thavat called The Justice of Bunny King.

Bunny King (Essie Davis) was a woman who had been convicted of manslaughter after killing her abusive husband in self-defense. Bunny had her kids taken away from her and placed in the system. Once she had served her time, she came out and had to jump through several hoops in order to attempt to regain custody of her kids.

She started to live in the garage of her sister’s (Toni Potter) home because Bunny was unable to find a home of her own and that was the first step in getting her kids back. However, Bunny caught her sister’s husband Bevan(Erroll Shand) molesting his step-daughter Tonyah (Thomasin McKenzie). Bunny’s sister did not believe Bunny and took the side of her husband, throwing Bunny out of their house.

Bunny stealing Bevan’s car, taking Tonyah and hiding out with her. Bunny’s plan was to have a birthday party for her daughter, who was turning six. Things went poorly after that.

Essie Davis was magnificent as Bunny King. You could tell that Bunny had plenty of problems, including a temper that caused her to fly off the handle, but you knew that she loved her children and she loved her niece. Even though she may not have made wise choices, she did them for the right reasons and that made her easy to root for even though she was basically kidnapping Tonyah.

Thomasin McKenzie, who appeared in other great movies such as Last Night in Soho and Jojo Rabbit, was exceptional as the young girl who Bunny was trying to rescue from the abusive circumstance she found herself in. McKenzie was quiet and moving as she displayed the loyalty to Bunny despite Bunny’s rapidly elevating behavior.

The story was dark and at times tough to watch. Bunny’s bad behavior was never acceptable, but you certainly understand where it was coming from and at the heart of the woman was love. Not a role model for sure, Bunny King is a survivor and a force of nature. She actually reminded me quite a bit of the character of Leslie from To Leslie. Both women are rude and their malfeasance is against norms, but they have a hidden strength.

The Justice of Bunny King is on Peacock.

To Leslie (2022)

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June 19, 2023

Day: 19, Movie: 19

Last year, Andrea Riseborough received a controversial Best Actress in a motion picture Oscar nomination from out of nowhere for her role in the independent film, To Leslie. It was unexpected and got a lot of people talking.

She deserved that nomination 100%.

I watched To Leslie this morning for the June Swoon 2 on Netflix and this movie was excellent. Andrea Riseborough played Leslie, a former lottery winner who drank away her winnings and ended up leaving her son, James (Owen Teague).

Hitting the bottom, Leslie returned to her hometown trying to find any way to survive. When local motel clerk Sweeney (Marc Maron) offered her a job as a maid, Leslie finally had to confront the demons that had sent her down her life’s path.

Andrea Riseborough was amazing as Leslie. Her performance was stellar, with every look, every glance filled with pain and meaning. The struggle of alcoholism was real and Riseborough portrayed it with an achingly powerful realism.

She masterfully played on the emotions of the viewers. At the beginning of the movie, I found her to be a horrible character and, before long, I was rooting for her. She ran the gamut of emotions and I was never quite sure what the end result of the film was going to be.

Marc Maron as Sweeney was a awesome supporting character as well, bringing a lifeline to Leslie just when she needed it. At first, you wondered why he decided to do what he did for Leslie, but as the film progressed, his motivations became obvious and perfectly understandable.

The film also featured an epic performance from Allison Janney as Nancy. When we first meet Nancy, you could understand and support her and as the movie moved along, Nancy became more of an antagonist that the audience could hate. This character was so three-dimensional that she felt like a real person who held grudges and who had reasons for them.

These characters in this movie were extremely well written and developed. They were real people facing the difficulties that life brought and not always facing then in a positive manner. There is an authenticity to the story and the characters that serves this film well.

Wildcat (2022)

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June 18, 2023

Day: 18, Movie: 18

The June Swoon 2 continued today with another interesting documentary that was on Prime. Wildcat focused in on a British war veteran Harry Turner who left Afghanistan suffering from PTSD. Harry traveled to Peru where he joined up with wildlife biologist Samantha Zwicker, who was involved in the rescue of wild animals threatened by poachers.

As he was joining up, they received a baby ocelot named Khan and Harry became very connected to the wildcat. They began working with the baby ocelot in order to be able to release him into the wild in about a year and a half.

However, tragedy struck, leading to the cat’s unexpected demise, and the subsequent arrival of a second ocelot baby for the pair to raise.

I will say that this documentary was only partially about the cat; it was really more about Harry and Samantha and their traumatic backgrounds. The film does a remarkable job showing the mental distress that Harry was going through, and the illness that he suffered. The portrait of a man who tried to deal with his mental illness by cutting himself on the arm. How he spoke about the suicidal thoughts that troubled him. This was one of the most compelling parts of the doc.

There was also some great moments with Harry and his parents and younger brother who came to Peru to visit him. The relationship between Harry and his brother came through extremely well.

This was a top notch documentary that really has a solid and emotional story at its core. Wildcat is a great story for animal lovers as well as those who are interested in human drama.

Burial (2022)

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June 17, 2023

Day: 17, Movie: 17

After a busy day at the theater and writing reviews, I was able to finally get to the June Swoon 2. Today, I went on to Shudder at Prime and picked out a horror/thriller called Burial.

A group of Russian soldiers have the task of taking the body of Adolf Hitler from the bunker where he had shot himself and deliver it back to Russia to Stalin. They are being pursued by German soldiers determined to reclaim the body of Der Fuehrer.

The Russians included translator/intelligence officer Brana Brodskaya (Charlotte Vega) who was determined to not fail in the transition of the body back to the Soviet Union.

The film also included a local Polish man Lukasz (Tom Felton) who helped the Russian avoid capture by the German, which included the  German “Werewolf” partisans.

There is not much of a horror element to the movie, being more of a thriller/war movie. Still, there are some suspenseful scenes with the characters in the woods and some of the images connected with some delusions that were tense.

I enjoyed this movie. I liked the way this movie was framed, with actor Harriet Walter, playing an older version of Brana, narrating the story of what happened during the final days of the war in Europe. The film truly picks up steam when Tom Felton arrives and we first learn about what is inside the box.

This was a good watch on Shudder and is a quick watch too. I liked this one.

The Blackening

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The Blackening is a dark horror comedy directed by Tim Story. It is a satire of horror movies and racial stereotypes while being both suspenseful and outrageously funny.

A group of former college friends receive an invite for a reunion/party at a cabin in the woods on Juneteenth. Unbeknownst to them, the party is a cover for a trap meant to kill them all.

This ensemble cast was excellent and worked so well with one another. The main cast included Antoinette Robertson, Dewayne Perkins, Sinqua Walls, Grace Byers, X Mayo, Melvin Gregg and Jermaine Fowler. This cast took their characters and avoided the simple stereotypes while developing the characters very successfully considering the short time of the film.

There was a great amount of self-awareness in the movie, playing up on the horror movie tropes. They even go as far as to make references to other movies such as Scream.

The movie does have some things to say about the plight of black people as well as the selfishness of a group of people. The message of the movie never threatened to overwhelm the entertainment, which is not always the norm. This group of people were not innocent in this and you can understand the reasoning behind what happens to them. However, you cannot help but cheer and root for them to make it through the challenges and games that they are being forced to undertake.

One of my favorite jokes in the film, subtle as it was, was when Diedrich Bader’s park ranger character, Mr. White, is referred to as a ‘white savior.’ by one of the cast. That was hilarious and a great example of how smart this movie’s dialogue and writing was.

I found this extremely intelligent and hilariously funny. I was thoroughly entertained by the film that moves at a brisk pace and never felt boring.

4.4 stars

Elemental

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The latest Pixar animated movie left me all wet at first, but I did warm up to it as it went along…

Yes, I am ashamed of those puns.

Elemental featured the story of Ember (Leah Lewis), a young girl of the fire people living in a land where the other elements- air, water and land- live together, who is trying to convince her father Bernie (Ronnie Del Carmen) that she is ready to take over running their family store so he can retire.

However, during the important sale at the store, the pipes of the store burst, flooding the basement. The water also pulled in Wade (Mamoudou Athie), a local building inspector and a water person, who writes a bunch of tickets that would lead to the store’s closure. Ember chases after Wade in an attempt to stop him from turning in the tickets.

As they work together, Ember and Wade realize that there is a spark between them, despite being apparently incompatable.

I came into Elemental with very little anticipation. Though I always enjoy Pixar, this film was just not doing much for me. Then, it did not help that the film had an animated short featuring Carl and Doug from Up called Carl’s Date. I disliked this short a great deal. It was dull, repetitive and just not funny. It kicked off the afternoon in a poor manner.

The film then started and I had a real difficult time getting into the film. I was not enjoying the story, the characters felt way below the line of the usual Pixar work and I just did not like what I was watching. I was counting the time waiting for this to be over.

Of course, the animation continued to be absolutely gorgeous and at the high level of quality of Pixar movies. It could easily be considered a work of art. The character designs were good. I loved the way Ember’s nose moved like it was a flame.

As the film moved on, I started to become a little more engaged with the relationship between Ember and Wade. By the time the third act was underway, I was liking what I was watching more than I did before. It had won me over with its charm.

Elemental was a mixed bag for me. The story and the world did not grab my attention at first, but I did eventually found it entertaining. It was beautiful to look at for sure. It is a borderline recommendation for me.

3 stars

Extraction 2

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Extraction 2, the sequel to one of the most successful Netflix original movie from the streamer, dropped today on Netflix starring Chris Hemsworth, once again playing Tyler Rake.

However, at the end of the last movie, we thought Tyler Rake might have died. At the beginning of this movie, we see how close he actually came. Pulled out of the river, Tyler was operated on in a desperate attempt to save his life.

Tyler came out of the operations injured and weakened, destined for retirement. When Idris Elba came to see him with a mission request, Tyler found the boring and low-intensity life he had been living went out the window.

Extraction 2 elevated the action of the previous movie to a remarkable level in the sequel. Chris Hemsworth is a wonderful lead character, right at home with the fighting and gunfire. Although I have to say that during one fight when Hemsworth reached for a nearby hammer on the ground, I got excited.

The action of this movie was brilliantly conceived and executed. The first scene of Tyler Rake going into the prison where the family he was trying to extract was amazingly shot. It looked like a constant one-shot, though it was not. It got to be fun as I was looking for the hidden cuts during the scene. It was flawlessly edited together to make an anxiety-ridden scene.

There were three main action set pieces of Extraction 2 and they were all different enough to keep them fresh. Director Sam Hargrave sets up the action with some excellent shots and creative ways to highlight the gunfire that can become repetitive.

The film also tosses some emotional moments, especially when dealing with Tyler Rake’s son and the family that he was hired to rescue.

Other actors in the film included Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Tornike Gogrichiani, Andro Japaridze, Olga Kurylenko and Idris Elba.

I had a lot of fun watching this movie. Chris Hemsworth does a great job with what his character is supposed to do and the action is extremely well shot and outlined. It’s a great streaming film.

4 stars

On the Count of Three (2022)

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June 16, 2023

Day: 16, Movie: 16

Hulu is the location today for the June Swoon 2 as I came across a dark comedy/drama film directed by Jerrod Carmichael called On the Count of Three. This was a film where the premise really snagged me when I came across it.

Two long-time friends are both at a point in their lives where they are both suicidal and agreed to shoot each other. Played by Jerrod Carmichael and Christopher Abbott respectively, Val and Kevin have had horrendous backstories that have led them both to stand opposite each other with a gun pointed at their heads.

However, Kevin hesitated and knocked the gun aside, wanting to have one more day to do some things that they wanted before the end.

Dark and funny at times, Val and Kevin run around the town doing some shocking things that do a great job of informing these two characters. They are so messed up, but you can’t help but find yourself rooting for them and hoping something happens to change their minds on the ultimate end.

Tiffany Haddish, Henry Winkler and J.B. Smoove have vital supporting roles in the movie that give the pair some dramatic characters to play off.

The third act of the film is dramatic and the ending is amazing. No spoilers, of course, but it is a satisfactory ending to the movie.

On the Count of Three is an excellent dark comedy with some wonderful character development.

Stan Lee

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I have been looking forward to this documentary since I first heard about it. Stan Lee is one of my idols. He helped shape my childhood and helped make me the person I have become through his imagination and creativity. His influence is massive for me.

So a documentary on his life streaming on Disney +? Well, I was all in on it.

Stan Lee, the documentary by David Gelb told us, in his own words, the story of Stanley Lieber, a comic book writer who helped revolutionize the industry and who helped create a mythology of today with some of the most recognizable characters in all of pop culture.

Stan Lee nearly narrated this entire doc from clips of him giving interviews and other public appearances, and this gave us a real insight on the ‘character’ of Stan Lee, the larger-than-life, braggadocio whose super heroes helped inspire a generation.

This documentary focuses on the positives of Stan Lee’s life. I would not go as far as to call it a ‘puff piece’ but there were areas of Stan Lee’s life that was just barely touched upon that could have made this an even more enjoyable documentary.

For example, the documentary truly popped when it played a clip of a radio show where Jack Kirby, Stan Lee’s longtime collaborator and one of the most successful and prolific comic book artists of all time, was being interviewed and Stan called in to wish him a happy birthday. The conversation between the two icons got away from the host and the conflicts between Stan and Jack came out. Those few seconds of the doc were as compelling as anything and I would have loved to hear more about that.

They also touched on the conflict between Stan and Steve Ditko. This, along with the conflict with Kirby, was based around the credit on who actually created certain characters. Was it the writer who came up with the idea or was it the artists who created the visual concept? Again, this idea was brushed across in this doc but really could have been the center of a major piece of the doc. It is a section that I would have loved to hear more about.

Stan also mentioned a time when Marvel Comics had been sold and he went from having a lifetime contract to having a two-year deal. He said he was not happy about that, but the doc does not go into much detail or specifics on this.

While the documentary did not dive into the controversies of his life, the doc was very entertaining dealing with the positives of Stan Lee’s life. His story of the creation of the Fantastic Four, about how the Spider-Man character became published, the creation of Black Panther all were fascinating, and hearing them from Stan’s own words made it all the more special.

This was a fun reflection on the parts of Stan Lee’s life that led to the iconic Marvel Comics. While I would have loved to have some of the doc go into more depth with the ‘warts’ of the man, what we got was still engaging and entertaining. Much like Stan Lee himself.

3.75 stars

The Flash

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The Flash has been in development for years. Finally, the movie has arrived with an unbelievable controversy and with some people claiming that it is the ‘best comic book movie ever.’

I’ll start with the controversy. I have to address it. Ezra Miller has had an insane path over the last several years, leading an abusive stretch with others. I am really trying my best to separate my thoughts of the creative person from the content, so my review will not detail my thoughts on Ezra Miller’s real life craziness.

So, on to the review.

Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) uses his super speed to travel back in time to save his mother (Maribel Verdú) from her untimely death, which causes the universe to go seriously wonky and all kind of changes happen. Barry goes on a quest to try and right the wrongs he did, along with a younger version of himself, Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) and Kara (Sasha Calle).

Okay, first off, this is not the best comic book movie ever made. Period. That does not mean I did not like The Flash, because I did. But this movie is fun, but very messy.

Let me start with what I liked. Ezra Miller did a great job as Barry Allen, in particular as the older Barry Allen who had more experience. They had a confidence and a swagger that fit the character very well. Miller did a great job playing two distinctly different characters, as well. Honestly, they did such a good job that I never thought about it being the same actor playing two roles.

Michael Keaton was sensational as the older Batman. Keaton looked as if he was having a blast returning to a version of a role that he played in 1989. He was absolutely the standout character in the film and his re-introduction was epic.

Sasha Calle was a wonderful addition as Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl. She brought a character that was nowhere near a Kal-El and a character whose brutality made a lot of sense considering the situation that she had found herself in.

Some of the emotional scenes that we got between Ezra Miller and Maribel Verdú as Nora Allen were extremely well written and directed. They had some powerful moments together and brought a heart to the movie.

Then there were several parts of The Flash that I thought were a mixed bag, some good, some bad. One of these was the special effects. Honestly, the first 10-15 minutes of CGI in this movie (I’ll say one word… babies) was some of the worst special effects we have had in a major movie in awhile. It was really a turn off in that scene. However, there were also some CGI in The Flash that was amazing and awesome. The speed force and the way the Flash was shown using his speed were beautifully rendered. There were times when one Barry Allen was carrying the other Barry Allen and it was totally seamless. CGI was truly a coin flip for the movie.

I found the cameos and Easter eggs that were plastered throughout the film were great and a lot of fun. Some did not always look as great as it could be, but the film absolutely played on the nostalgia (‘member-berries). However, there felt like some of the nostalgia was too forced, especially with the dialogue for Batman/Bruce Wayne. Is there a reason Michael Keaton had to repeat so many lines from his original movies? We get it, we remember. That felt too ham-fisted at times. Still, the best cameo came right at the end of the film (no spoilers, of course), but this felt like a giant middle finger to everyone and I was here for it.

Another up and down aspect was the humor. Some of the jokes worked really well, but other times it felt out of place. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I want always serious comic book movies like the Snyder films, but some of this worked and much of it didn’t. Part that I did not like was the way young Barry Allen was portrayed. He was so obnoxious and played as a moron for much of the film. I know it was meant to show older Barry Allen what he had been like and to let him understand how others had seen him, but it felt too much. Young Barry felt stupid and I did not get that from previous films.

I will say that I hated the post credits scene at the very end of the film. It felt totally unnecessary and just not funny.

It also is unclear after this movie what the direction of the DCU is going to be. This felt much more like a goodbye to the previous films/universe instead of something that was going to kickoff the next round of movies. This was loosely based on the comic run called Flashpoint (which had an awesome animated DC movie back in 2013). The only set up in this film was.. ‘hey, multiverse!’ The multiverse concept has been done better in Across the Spider-Verse, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and the MCU.

I had fun with The Flash. Do not go into the film with the expectations that it is going to revolutionize the comic book movie industry, because it is not up to that standard. It is fun, with some solid actors who looked to be enjoying themselves, and a sprinkling of emotions in all the right spots. It is not the best DCEU movie, nor is it the worst. In fact, I would place it in the upper half of the DCEU films, and I believe that The Flash gives you permission to move on.

3.5 stars

The Son (2022)

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June 15, 2023

Day: 15, Movie: 15

Today’s June Swoon 2 film is on Netflix and it deals with a very heavy subject. The Son was a film directed by Florian Zeller and starred Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern. Depression is a tough challenge that many people struggle with daily.

Peter (Hugh Jackman) and Kate (Laura Dern) split up years before when Peter met and fell in love with another woman Beth (Vanessa Kirby). The divorce was tough for their son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath), who held on to the pain he felt.

When it was revealed that Nicholas had been skipping school, Kate chose to have him go live with Peter to hopefully help him. Peter was very busy at work and he saw what he wanted to see when it came to Nicholas.

Nicholas continued his struggles at his father’s home, slipping back into some negative behaviors.

There was a lot of melodrama in this movie to the point where it felt like there was too much. While the performances were solid, the material was not up to par. It seemed as if there was nothing deeper than what was shown and some of the dialogue was iffy.

I had a major problem early on that pulled me out of the story. As someone who works in a school, I can not imagine how a student could skip school for a month at a time without someone checking on him. It happened in this movie with two different schools and that just did not feel realistic to me and that caused me to disassociate myself with the story.

Anthony Hopkins appeared as Peter’s father, but he was completely wasted in the film. His appearance was literally just a few minutes, making this role nothing more than a cameo.

The key is that there is not enough specifics or development of the character of Nicholas. He is very surface level and, because of that, we are unable to access the important part of the story that would help with the emotional beats of the film. Zen McGrath does a good job with what he was given, but there just was not enough of a portrait of this character.

The Son was a sad story that does not go any deeper than that. The actors are very good with the limited details they are given and instead of three dimensional characters we get melodrama.