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It happens now and then. More new movies come along than I can get to and then write about. So, not today for Novocaine or The Day The Earth Blew Up, Opus or O’Dessa. There are five others you can read about though, two with higher ambitions than achievement.
Can I Get a Witness?: 3½ stars
The Electric State: 2 ½
Black Bag: 3
We Forgot To Break Up: 3½
The Empire: 2 ½
CAN I GET A WITNESS?: Ann Marie Fleming, who wrote and directed this, states right at the top that it is a fable. I assume she means this to be a short tale bearing a moral lesson, in this case about climate change and us. Good to see attention paid to that in the movies, but here it’s not direct enough. And yet somewhat preachy. “Will it come to this?” we’re motivated to ask. What sacrifices will we make to avoid it? We can muse on that as we watch this vision of the future which I didn’t find realistic enough. It’s set in the future when wildfires burning the forests are only memories, seen in photos. There’s ecological peace; people live with nature, no one lacks food, shelter or other needs. To get that they’ve had to cut back on technology. And agree to stop living at age 50. That’s the old overpopulation theory.
Keira Jang plays Kiah, a young woman who questions all that, not so much objecting, but trying to understand. She and Daniel (Joel Oulette) visit people who are required to die, and help them do it. A powder in a cup of tea is one method. They get willing responses like “Pray this world can be enjoyed forever.” She does drawings to document the deaths. (Digital pictures can fade, you see.) It’s her first day on the job and she wonders about it, for one thing because her own mother Ellie (Sandra Oh) is about that age. Daniel has answers, explaining both the need, the best way (“Dawn is an awesome time to go.”) and the law, a universal declaration of human rights and responsibilities. “You’re not here to judge,” he says, “Only to witness.” The film is well-directed, filmed and acted, but the moral lesson it intends is elusive. TIFF named it to its Top 10 Canadian films and Vancouver’s Film Critics Circle gave it five awards (Best BC Film, Director, Best BC Director, Supporting Actor, and One To Watch, Keira Jang). (Vancouver and Montreal theaters now, Ottawa March 21; more to come) 3½ out of 5
THE ELECTRIC STATE: Rumored to be the most expensive original movie ever on Netflix you’ll want to check this one out. Because of the directors for instance, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, who directed a couple of Marvel’s biggest hits. They’re working again with their regular screenwriter, Stephen McFeely, and the original source is a popular graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag. Don’t get your hopes too high though. The film is messy and jumbled and even, surprisingly, not all that engaging. Unless you’re a kid. You might find the theme-park ambiance and the nutty robot characters quite entertaining. The rest of us, not so much.
It starts so well though. A war was waged between humans and robots. It’s over and a woman (Millie Bobby Brown) is trying to find her brother. She joins up with brash ex-soldier (Chris Pratt) on the search. The mood is bright and reminds me of many such adventure films from years ago. Very promising. But gradually the ambiance changes, the robot characters they encounter are silly; they look like toys; the places look like theme parks. The adventure seems aimed at juveniles. The book is said to be grim in tone; the film is light, family fare. Woody Harrelson voices Mr. Peanut, Brian Cox a baseball-manager-like robot, and Giancarlo Esposito a bounty hunter seen only as a face in a virtual reality visor.
It’s an innovation brought on by the villain of the piece played by Stanley Tucci. The story takes is into the dead-zone where the brother may be held and where the robots have been confined since the war. There’s some fight left; not enough to make the film stand out though. (Netflix) 2 ½ out of 5
BLACK BAG: Steven Soderbergh has been awfully busy since he retired. This is his second film in just a few weeks and he has several more in development. He takes on the spy genre here not in a Bond or Bourne mode, more like a John Le Carre tale, thoughtful and erudite, brisk but relaxed. These spies are playing out a mystery story, much like Agatha Christie gave us. Who, at a dinner party early in the film, is a liar, and possibly even a traitor? A digital program called Severus has been stolen. It’s just a McGuffin to some but kudos to scriptwriter David Koepp for including it. Actually he could have elaborated on it. The program can invade computer systems and you can imagine how much of a weapon that could be when you consider how much we rely on computers for everything from power stations to defense systems. I read that the US is sure some country is working on a program like it and is watching carefully.
But this spy film is focused on people much more than gadgets. Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett play a married couple who hold that dinner party. Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris and Regé-Jean Page are the guests, and all, to varying degrees, suspects. A dinner-table game brings that out as each has to think up a resolution to change for the next person to the right. A lot is revealed and we have a gallery of suspects.
One is Blanchett seen in video surveillance talking to a Russian operative. Satellite connection lets us hear them talk. She seems to be buying something, not selling. Back at the office, the intelligence boss (Pierce Brosnan) blusters that the traitor must be found, and fast. Fassbender has to decide between his wife (Blanchett) and his country.
The others are studied too and this cool, engrossing but rather slow movie ambles along. It’s a quiet read, uh, make that movie. (In theaters) 3 out of 5
WE FORGOT TO BREAK UP: Here's a worthy depiction of an urge most everyone feels when they're young: to rise and become somebody. In this case it's a group of teens in a small (and I think fictional) Ontario town called Emmett Lake who form a rock band. (90s Indie-style). They've got a vibrant, slightly rough sound, write their own songs and wow them at the grad show at the highschool. They think they're coolest band in the world, fuss over a name, come up with The New Normals and try climbing up in the music business.
Luke Webber as Evan, June Laporte as Isis, Jordan Dawson as Angus and the three others head off to Toronto. They get a manager who says of their original material and presence: "No one has ever seen anything like you" but also this: "What are you afraid of?" That could be lots as we see things outlined: getting used to the big city, corporate demands, planning a US tour, arguments within the band ("This band has turned into such a cliche") and personal issues: a pregnancy, sexual orientation. Director Karen Knox keeps all these in balance to tell a tale that I would think many can relate to. Energy. Original songs, too. (The Rio theater Vancouver, next week. Watch for it elsewhere). 3½ out of 5
THE EMPIRE: Here’s a mad and loopy take on our outer-space future. It’s from Bruno Dumont in France, won a key award at last year’s Berlinale Film Festival and delights in absurd happenings. It’s also a bit of a parody of space invasion films though that’s not taken far enough to be a major intent. It’s too much a lark for that.
It imagines two groups from outer space that have brought their war to our planet. We get a battle between good and evil that is reinforced with a lot of religious imagery, including space ships that look like cathedrals and scenes inside these churches. (Images that probably say a lot in France).The bad guys are the Zero group who want to instill evil in the population. Against them is the group called One which is trying to improve people with “solidarity and equality.” They accuse the Zeros of instilling “malignity.”
Both sides are searching for a young boy they call The Wain, who they consider the “chosen one.” One character says he’s “the prince of darkness” and must be annihilated while he is still small. Zeroes take over the bodies of people in a rural village where they think the boy is. They’re trying to stir up discord to foil any resistance.
The Ones, led by a Queen played by Camille Cottin, are intent on exterminating the evil in humans. Over on the other side there’s a speaking black blob in charge. It’s played by another well-known French actor, Fabrice Luchini and named Belzebuth. No, this doesn’t always make sense, but if you’re in the mood for something odd, try it. “Humans are endearing and so amusing,” one character says. The movie is close, but not quite that. (In theaters: Vancouver now, Montreal next week) 2 ½ out of 5
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