It's just a coincidence that the films this week are based on true stories. Some, like Woman of the Hour, seem too bizarre but are true. Donald Trump is real and the biggest case of civil disobedience ever seen in Canada is too. And note two inspiring stories: about the man who played Superman and the women who escaped the Taliban.
The Apprentice: 3 ½ stars
Woman of the Hour: 3
An Unfinished Journey: 3 ½
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story: 4
Fairy Creek: 4
Saturday Night: 2 ½
THE APPRENTICE: If you’ve been following Donald Trump’s story closely you won’t find much that’s new here. But you will find a compelling overview of his younger pre-politics days and a closer look at what shaped him. Denying that election loss? Fits exactly with the three rules he got years earlier from lawyer Roy Cohn who became his mentor. Always attack. Never admit you did anything wrong. And never admit defeat. How true is that of the Trump we’ve gotten to know? We watch him learn and apply in this film which neither denounces nor supports him. It tries to understand him and just deliver the facts.
He’s an insecure young man in the 1970s working for his bullying father, collecting rents and evicting tenants. He’s got dreams, initially to take a rundown building and renovate it into a tony hotel. Cohn teaches him to be aggressive, helps get him a tax abatement for the project and serves as a role model. Trump is impressed by his brash belligerence. Later he’ll turn against him, which also fits with the three rules.
The acting is superb. Sebastian Stan captures Trump’s mannerisms and Jeremy Strong’s Cohn exudes ruthless determination. Their scenes together are electric. Strong steals them. The film gets weaker later when Cohn isn’t around. We do get the infamous rape scene though, the one that has enraged the current Trump campaign enough to threaten lawsuits. In that scene, Trump assaults his first wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova) with genuine anger. For a time, the film’s non-judgemental stance is gone. It’s written by an American, Gabriel Sherman, and directed by Ali Abbasi, Iran-born, now based in Denmark. I hope voters watch it and the HBO documentary Steal the Deal before the election. (In theaters) 3 ½ out of 5
WOMAN OF THE HOUR: It’s almost impossible to believe, but it happened, back in 1978 in California. A serial killer, who had actually spent some time in jail, was brought on to the TV show The Dating Game as a possible date. Somehow his history had eluded the staffers who booked him.
In that episode, Sheryl Bradshaw, a contestant, had to choose from three bachelors and decided he was the best. His answers were more accomplished and educated to questions about writers, Einstein’s theory of relativity and this one: “What are girls for?” She won a trip to Carmel with him.
We know from occasional flashbacks that he’s a photographer who lured girls with promises of fame. Out in the desert he raped them and choked them to death. Yet, there’s little tension as the show proceeds. The tone stays light, possibly a choice made by the director to underline the oddity of the situation. Maybe because the show proceeded that way. The director happens to be Anna Kendrick, who also plays Sheryl and does both very well. The killer/date choice is played by Daniel Zovatto. On the show he’s likeable and in the flashbacks much different. The film is an ironic curio and very engaging. (In theaters now; on Netflix soon). 3 out of 5
AN UNFINISHED JOURNEY: Afghanistan isn't first on our minds these days as a world trouble spot. This documentary makes a strong case that it should be included. Since the Taliban came back to power three years ago a form of gender apartheid has been created. Imagine women not allowed on television or in schools. They can't even travel without a man accompanying them.
That's fully explained and decried, by four women who excaped from there and are now in places like Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa and part of a Feminist Forum for Afghanistan. One was a journalist, three were politicians. Of those three, one was a cabinet minister, and one was also a math teacher. They're articulate in describing what is going on back home. For a woman to have a job or get an education, says one, she must start a war with her family, first with her father, then her husband and then "with society." Both Europe and the US talked to the Taliban and were assured women's rights would be restored. Hasn't happened. The film by Amie Williams and Aeyliya Husain, and Montreal's HitPlay Productions, conveys a strong sense of outrage and that "Being silent is sin." (Wednesday on CBC and CBC Gem) 3 ½ out of 5
SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY: It's a most inspiring story and just might bring on a few tears, so heartfelt and emotional is this documentary by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui. It doesn't manipulate, just tells the facts and delivers the drama, which is strong.
Reeve became a huge star playing Superman in 1978 (so convincingly that you could believe that a man can fly, as the ads said) and again in three sequels. He showed his range in other films too but after learning horseback riding for one, entered a competition where he took a fall that left him paralyzed. He didn't stop though. He directed a couple of movies, spoke at a Democratic Party Convention and memorably appeared on stage at the Oscars. And he started a foundation to support research into spinal cord injuries. For that he was a tireless advocate.
The film is full of testaments to him in archival clips, from his best friend Robin Williams, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and others, new clips from Glenn Close and Susan Sarandon and from his children. They describe him as an often-absent father but mix in great respect with some less flattering nuggets. He emerges as a real human being, both good and flawed. Worth remembering. (Select theaters) 4 out of 5
FAIRY CREEK: If you're in the Toronto area you can catch the world premiere of a terrific film about the fight against cutting down of old growth forests in B.C. It'll be shown at the Planet in Focus festival October 17 and since it now has a distributor, will surely play elsewhere in Canada. Watch for it.
Three years ago protesters tried to block loggers in a never-cut valley on Vancouver Island, defied a court injunction and faced the burly RCMP types sent to move them out. Some 1,100 were arrested, making this the largest case of civil disobedience in Canadian history. The film takes us right into the action with amazing pictures. The filmmakers had arrived early and won the protesters' confidence. Some, with nicknames like Bushpig and Panda talk about why the trees must be saved. Some climb into platforms high up in the trees to block logging. A sawmill owner explains why the logging is important for him. And Bill Jones, an elder from an area First Nation, explains why he's with the protesters while his band council approved the logging.
And there's an even bigger split. While the protesters are trying to save trees, Indigenous young people, like Kati George-Jim, favor their people's sovereignty over these settler protests. A relevent debate. There's also police action that looks like they're out of control and while logging has been deferred for the time being, the issues are still live. 4 out of 5
SATURDAY NIGHT: It’s played the festivals and is now in theaters and if you’re a fan, or even just curious about the 50-year-old and continuing show you should catch it. Even if you’re like me and not impressed with much of the writing on the show these days. It shows where it came from, how groundbreaking it was. So much so that as the very first show was readied for air nobody at NBC knew what it was going to be. Why did they take it on then? That’s not explained as we watch the week and specifically the hour and a half before it went to air, the night of Oct 11, 1975. Jason Reitman directed the film and perfectly depicts the chaotic tension backstage. There are arguments, fights even, from actors who look quite a bit like the originals they’re playing.
That’s Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase and Gabriel LaBelle of West Vancouver as Lorne Michaels the founding and still-on-going producer. We also get Willem Dafoe as an NBC executive, Matt Wood as an out-old-control John Belushi, Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster and Nicholas Braun, who you'll remember from Succession, in two roles. The film’s not ground-breaking like the show was but it is energetic and a fairly good time and nostalgic, if you can remember these “not ready for prime time players.” (In theaters) 2 ½ out of 5
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