Better Man

My View:  Better Man  (2024) R    Better Man tells the true story of Robbie Williams, who dreamed at a young age that he would become a world-famous pop star. We follow Robbie as his meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and then dramatic resurgence as a British pop superstar plays out before our eyes. So, looking at the poster from the film, you can see that Robbie Williams is portrayed by a chimpanzee, done with CGI and using actor Jonno Davies in the role, including speaking the lines, with Williams doing most of the voice-over narration. Yes, it takes a few minutes to get used to this take on a musical (humans portray all the other characters), but I enjoyed it after a while. It helped with Robbie becoming part of a boy band, and I didn’t have to keep searching for him among all the other guys that looked like him. There are a couple of breathtaking songs in the film, including a spectacular musical number that takes place on Regent Street, one of the most famous streets in all of England. The film was problematic for me in two ways. One is here in the States; Williams isn’t very well known, except for his song Millennium (the video was a take-off of James Bond films); he never became the big star that he is in England and Europe. So, I never knew if a song was an original song made for the film or if it was one of his hits. Secondly, the film becomes overindulgent, with Robbie constantly fighting himself and always being confronted by images of himself telling him that he is not good enough to be a star. Better Man all comes to a head near the end of the film, in a sequence that should have been the big triumphant scene, but instead, Robbie fights all his past selves. It takes a long time to get to that point, and you would think that would be the end, but instead, we get a last song that, while fans of Willams will know is part of his repertoire; it just doesn’t fit the rest of the film. Better Man is a film that starts with a gimmick that you forget is there for a bit but keeps hitting you over the head with it, and that is just too much for someone who isn’t a Robbie Williams fan like me.  My Rating; Bargain Matinee  Better Man Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  The Last Showgirl  (2024)  R   In The Last Showgirl, Shelly (Pamela Anderson) has been a part of a Las Vegas revue show for over 20 years. Shelly has given up everything to be a part of the show; it is part of her life, and suddenly, she is told that in two weeks, the show will close forever. Director Gia Coppola knew what she had in Pamela Anderson, someone we all love but who has a limited dramatic range. So Coppola went out and got a powerful supporting cast, including Dave Bautista, as the stage manager and former lover of Shelly, Brenda Strong, and Kiernan Shipka as two of Shelly’s showgirl pals, Billie Lourd as Shelly’s daughter, and Jamie Lee Curtis as an over the hill showgirl, now waitress, who is Shelly’s best friend. Coppola often lets the supporting cast do the heavy lifting in scenes and lets Anderson sit back and react. The Last Showgirl is a movie that probably would have been a successful short film because the storyline is incredibly weak and has a hard time even filling its short 85-minute run time. We get a lot of scenes of Anderson on Vegas casino rooftops looking out over the Las Vegas skyline or practicing her dance moves for her attempt to get a job in another Vegas show. Every scene where Anderson is asked to create emotion on screen seems forced. It’s telling that the scene that I came away remembering the most from this film was when Jamie Lee Curtis decides to quit another waitress job and dance on the casino floor for herself and no one else. Jamie Lee gives us a magical and memorable scene. It’s too bad it wasn’t Anderson doing the scene.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Last Showgirl Website  Now playing in the theaters. 

Indiefest:  Nickel Boys  (2024) PG-13   Nickel Boys tells the story of Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), two Black teenagers sent to the Nickel Academy in Florida after being accused of crimes they did not commit. To survive the horrors of school in the Jim Crow era South, the boys will need to rely on their friendship. Nickel Boys is an amazing film where we see the world through the eyes of Elwood in the first half of the film. The camera shows us what he is seeing, whether it is the curtains that Elwood’s grandmother is ironing, seen from the floor up as Elwood is under the ironing board, or as an adult when Elwood hitches a ride in a car that turns out is stolen. Elwood is sent to Nickel Academy deep in the Jim Crow South, where his life will depend on his wits and the friend that he makes in Turner, a fellow teen stuck in this horrible place like Elwood. For some, this film will confound you with its point of view, camera work, and editing, where we go back and forth to different time periods in Elwood’s life, often making you feel unsettled. About halfway through the film, this point of view shifts, but I won’t ruin the reason for you. It’s an amazing part in the film and makes the second half take off. Part thriller, part mystery, Nickel Boys is a groundbreaking film that creates a unique look at how to tell a story. If you can make it through the first 30 minutes of the film and feel comfortable going on, you will be rewarded with a film that will make you wonder how director RaMell Ross was able to create such a powerful and moving film that breaks a lot of conventional filmmaking rules.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Nickel Boys Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest:  Hard Truths  (2024) R  Hard Truths is about Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a woman who is depressed and angry at the world. Pansy finds offense in almost every situation and is always on the verge of flying off the handle. She has alienated her husband Curtley (David Webber) and her adult son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), who don’t dare say anything to her for fear of her reacting with rage. Pansy’s only person she can talk to is her sister, Chantal (Michele Austin), a person who sees good in everyone. However, even Chantal has a breaking point, and Pansy may find herself alone in dealing with the world. The film is centered on the performance of Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who portrays Pansy as a woman who is mad at the world and would rather spend her time in bed than be out in the world surrounded by fools. However, while Pansy might hate the world, she needs to feel loved, which is a key to her character that we see develop throughout the film. Hard Truths is a film where a performance transcends the storyline. It’s not an easy film to watch because Pansy is not an easy person to be around. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is a fireball on the screen, giving us a woman who has an opinion on everything and everybody, and who sees a world that is out to get her, so she fights back at every turn. I can’t imagine the energy that it took to do this performance, but it’s to Jean-Baptiste’s credit that we stick with the film until the end when everything comes to a head. Marianne Jean-Baptiste's full range is seen in a scene near the end of the film, and it's a marvel to experience.   My Rating: Full Price  Hard Truths Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Shaft in Africa  (1973)  R  P.I. John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is recruited to go to Africa and infiltrate a modern slavery ring that is sending young Africans to work on chain gangs in Europe. Shaft came out in 1971 and was an enormous hit. Now Shaft has one of the greatest opening title sequences with that incredible song by Isaac Hayes, but its plot is pretty weak, depending mostly on the star power of Roundtree to carry it off, with a lot of talking and minimal action. I think Shaft in Africa is the best of the three Shaft films of the early 70s. I love how they made Shaft a James Bond-like character, with even a few cool Bond-like gadgets. The film has a ton of action scenes and some cool hand-to-hand fights, plus a plot that moves pretty quickly once Shaft gets to Africa. The film's Ethiopian setting is utilized to its fullest potential, and Roundtree still possesses that star power.  My Rating: Full Price  Shaft in Africa Info The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon and Apple TV.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Better Man:  Rushes Runner

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Captain America: Brave New World  (2025)  Following the election of Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) as President of the United States, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), who now holds the mantle of Captain America, finds himself at the center of an international incident and must work to stop the true masterminds behind it. This film is part of the Phase Five of the MCU.  Captain America: Brave New World Website   The film is in theaters on Friday, February 14, 2025.

Until Next Time!