Category Archives: Drama
Drama
Flash Movie Review: Passing
I HAD A FAVORITE BOOKSTORE THAT I enjoyed hanging out in. There was something so inviting and comfortable about the place, with oversized upholstered chairs throughout and small nooks among its aisles. One day I saw on their message board they were hosting a book club meeting. The book listed sounded interesting to me, so I searched for it in the store. Luckily there was one copy I found and after reading the writeup of it, I decided to join the book club. There was plenty of time before we were to meet, and the fantasy book was a great read. The day arrived and I headed to the bookstore with my copy of the book nestled in my messenger bag. Once directed by a store employee on where we were meeting, I walked into an alcove in the back of the store; a circle of folding chairs surrounded a low, large coffee table. I counted the chairs as I made my way to an empty seat. A few other people were already seated, some looked like they knew each other. I nodded my head towards the general group and said “Hi” to no one in particular as I sat down. A store employee who was seated across from me offered me coffee or water that was set up on a table in the corner. I thanked her as I slid my bag under my seat. AS THE POSTED START TIME ARRIVED, the employee across from me stood up to introduce herself and thank all of us for coming. She was going to be the facilitator, starting out by asking us how we liked the book. Most attendees enjoyed the book, though there were a couple of people who disagreed. At one point we each were asked to express what we liked or disliked about the story. When it came to me, I expressed how I appreciated the author’s descriptive details of each character’s surroundings; I felt as if I was in the place with the character. The conversation turned at some point to a more in depth look at what the author was trying to say. Here is where I started to get lost because I rarely delve into the topic about what I think the author was trying to say. Who knows what they were saying? I listened to the people around me talk about all these detailed musings of projecting, mirroring, being an allegory and so on to the point where I felt I did not belong. I read for enjoyment, not to figure out hidden meanings in the author’s words. Knowing how I felt, I can not imagine what one of the main characters in this dramatic film was feeling while trying to fit in. AFTER GETTING OVER THE SHOCK OF seeing her old dear friend after so many years, a reserved New York City woman now must deal with the fact that her friend is pretending to be a white person. With Tessa Thompson (Creed franchise, Thor: Ragnarok) as Irene, Ruth Negga (Loving, Preacher-TV) as Clare, Andre Holland (Moonlight, A Wrinkle in Time) as Brian, Bill Camp (12 Years a Slave, Joker) as Hugh and Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Savages, The Taking of Pelham 123) as Dave; this sincere, emotional movie filmed in black and white was beautiful to watch. I thought the acting was excellent, the sets, soundtrack and costumes were perfect. Overall, this picture comes across like a “slice of life,” a look at the daily lives of individuals. I appreciated the direction, where enough time was given to each character as the viewer watched their growth. The idea of the story is a fascinating one and the production of it comes through clearly. This is the type of film where I label it as a story for adults to appreciate.
3 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Oslo
HOW I WISHED I COULD HAVE been a fly on the wall during their conversation. We had plans in place a few months ago, for all of us to get together at a relative’s house. The matriarch had agreed that we should test for COVID before coming over. I was a guest, so I was going with the flow believing it was a good idea. All was set; we tested and were on our way when we got a call from a relative. It turns out the person’s house we were going to refused to test and started a fight with the guests who arrived first. Even if I had not been forewarned, I would have known something was up because the tension in the room was as thick as foam insulation. Plus, several guests had red eyes which told me there had been tears flowing. Not to bore you with all the details, the most startling aspect of this entire event was how the matriarch sided with the person who refused to test. The thing that annoyed me was how the matriarch, when asked, said she never said she thought testing was a good idea. In fact, she was simply parroting whatever the non-tester was saying to us. There is one thing that I feel is extremely precious for each human being and that is their word. How this elderly woman could go back on what she said was something I found appalling. As I said earlier, I wished I could have been a fly on the wall to see how this relative convinced the matriarch to change her mind about testing. ON A SCALE OF THINGS, I wish I could have been privy to, this incident is far down the list. There are so many places I wish I could have seen or heard that I do not even know where to begin. For example, I would have been fascinated to have heard what was said at the meeting between Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill at their 1943 meeting in Tehran. I think it would have been beyond fascinating to see these three world leaders talking amongst themselves. Another place that I wish I could have seen and heard is the courtrooms where the woman’s right to vote was argued. Imagine what it must have been like to listen to the individuals who argued against the passing of the law; currently they would be ripped apart in the media. Or just recently the Olympic Games where the Russian female skater tested positive for a banned substance; I would have been so interested to hear the arguments on whether to let her skate or not. Hearing the backstory to famous events always piques my curiosity and this film based on a true story hit a bullseye with me. BELIEVING THEY COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE, a Norwegian couple go outside government boundaries to get two adversaries to talk to each other. Their idea could create a big change for the world. With Ruth Wilson (Saving Mr. Banks, Dark River) as Mona Juul, Andrew Scott (Pride, Victor Frankenstein) as Terje Rod-Larsen, Karel Dobry (A Knight’s Tale, Child 44) as Johan Jorgen Hoist, Tobias Zilliacus (The Hypnotist, Hospital-Daughter’s Mother) as Jan Egeland and Itzik Cohen (A Matter of Size, Fauda-TV) as Yossi Beilin; this movie based on a true story was a combination of being dramatic, thrilling and historical. I was fortunate to see the play this film was based on and loved it. This movie does a good job of sticking to the same storyline, but I felt there were a few scenes less engaging. However, the sets and dialog kept me zoned into the story. It is an incredible story that very few knew about back in the 1990s regarding the Palestinians and Israelis. There is little action in the traditional sense; so, if one is not a fan of history, they may not get as much enjoyment as I did watching this picture about an incredible event, made more incredible with the added layers of the story that have come to light.
3 stars
Flash Movie Trailer: Antlers
GROWING UP, I HAD A FRIEND who was embarrassed of her father. Without knowing his age, all of us felt he was the oldest out of any of our dads. Not that it was a big deal to any of us, but to her she felt uncomfortable by it. He did not participate in any of the school functions that involved any physical activity. I do not think that was an issue for my friend because I knew what bothered her the most about her dad; he spoke with a heavy accent. Being the oldest of his siblings, he tried taking care of them in their war-torn country after their parents were killed. Some of the siblings did not make it out when he was planning for all of them to immigrate to the United States. Out of all the fathers I knew, he was the only one with an accent. It did not bother me at all; I thought he was a sweet, quiet man who despite the circumstances dealt to him and his family, he did a wonderful job of providing for his children. They owned the apartment building they lived in, and the dad had other real estate holdings, so there was some sense of security for all of them. I can say as we all grew older my friend learned more about her family history, which instilled in her a strong sense of pride for her father. SHE WAS NOT THE ONLY FRIEND I had who was embarrassed of their parents. There was the friend whose mother enjoyed participating in school functions. However, she would always come dressed inappropriately. Added to that was her over the top, loud personality. Many of the other parents tried to avoid her. Either she was oblivious or just did not care, because she never wavered in her choices of clothes and level of outrageous loud bantering. My friend would try to steer us in a different direction to avoid her mother anytime she showed up at our school. I remember one time at a school carnival, I spotted her manning the ball toss booth. From my spot away from her, I could see what she was wearing had to be upsetting some school officials. And sure enough, as I was walking towards her to say hello, our principal walked up to her and said she would have to cover herself up. I do not know if she expected it or not, but she bent over and took a sweater out of her bag. The principal told her to keep it buttoned up or she would have to leave the school. I never mentioned this to my friend. I am sure many of us at one time or another found something our parents were doing that was embarrassing; however, I do not think it was on the scope of what the young boy was experiencing in this dramatic, horror mystery. WHEN MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER JULIA MEADOWS, played by Keri Russell (Dark Skies, Free State of Jones), notices one of her students withdrawing more and more from the classroom lessons, she takes it upon herself to find out what is going on. However, she does not understand there is a reason why her student doesn’t want her to get involved. With Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog, The Irishman) as Paul Meadows, relative newcomer Jeremy T. Thomas as Lucas Weaver, Graham Greene (Wind River, Dances with Wolves) as Warren Stokes and Scott Haze (Venom, Child of God) as Frank Weaver; I found this film played out more like a suspense story than horror. However, there were a few gory scenes with blood. There is something about Keri that I always find believable, and in this story, she was quite good. Add in Jesse and I did not mind the slower pace because the 2 actors were excellent together. The buildup of tense suspense was well done, and I feel it helped as two story lines were vying back and forth. Compared to other movies in this genre, this one is not the greatest; but it still entertained me. There was nothing here that the writers and director would find embarrassing.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Trailer: The Outfit
THANKS TO MY OCD TENDENCIES, I had no idea I had a knack for making merchandise displays. I was working part time at an importer of Asian furnishings, doing deliveries and various other odd jobs. When an employee was going on vacation, the manager asked me to set up some type of display with the shipment of urns we had just received. I had no experience doing anything like this but told him I would take care of it. Well long story short, I created this stepped floor display down the middle of a wide aisle that perfectly displayed the urns. The first day after I finished it, we nearly sold out of the urns by the end of the day. The manager was stunned as well as me. That same week after the urns sold, the manager asked me to handle the uncrating and displaying of a shipment of ornamental hand fans. With newfound confidence, I thought it would be best to open a group of fans and place them around the other displays, such as having them stick out of a few potted plants around the store and displaying fans in several cabinets. The rest of them I placed on a rosewood dining table in a fan shape with each row a different color. It turned out the fans were a big hit at the cash registers. WHEN THE EMPLOYEE CAME BACK FROM vacation, she took over doing the displays; however, the manager told her I would help her with them. I was excited by this discovered talent of mine and was eager to help her out whenever a shipment came in. I never considered how she felt about having someone suddenly working with her. However, it was made quite clear to me, that she wanted to handle everything by herself. I tried helping, but she felt her ideas were better than mine. My issue was the fact her displays did not always have a symmetrical look to them, which caused by OCD pulses to pick up. I tried showing her how the item looked if it was displayed in a different way, but I could see my advice was not being well received. I had to figure out a different way of expressing my opinions. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to work with her; so, I started to do a little rearranging after she was gone for the day. Nothing too dramatic, but just enough to make the display pop out a bit. Surprisingly she only asked me a couple of times about the changes she saw in her displays. I would tell her either I had to make room for an order to go out on delivery or customers had moved things around while trying to match up items with their orders. I had to make this work because I enjoyed what I was doing there. It is quite like what the main character was doing in this crime thriller, except he had to worry about being killed. AFTER OPENING HIS SHOP IN CHICAGO, a tailor had to figure out how to stay on the gangsters’ good side after they came calling. With Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies, The Trial of the Chicago 7) as Leonard, Zoey Deutch (Before I Fall, The Professor) as Mable, Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner franchise, American Assassin) as Richie, Johnny Flynn (Emma, Clouds of Sils Maria) as Francis and Nikki Amuka-Bird (Jupiter Ascending, The Omen) as Violet; this drama captured me quickly. Mark was the reason for me to remain focused on the story as it unfolded. I enjoyed the way the script snaked its way through the story, adding these unexpected twists and turns; it was exciting. I thought the entire look of this film was perfect as it brought back to life a period from the 1950s. This picture was a great start to the new Oscar season. My hope is that the future movies coming out this year will be just as exciting and engaging as this one.
3 ¼ stars
Flash Movie Trailer: West Side Story
WHEN I HEARD HOW HER MOTHER-IN-LAW was treating her, I was appalled. To be so blatant about a dislike for a person made me question exactly how so-called religious was she? I was told the mother-in-law never missed attending a church service, was involved by volunteering for church events, helped with fundraising; she did everything she could for her church, yet she did not like her daughter-in-law because she was raised and practiced a different religion. It did not matter that she loved her son, made him happy and in turn, he loved her. The fact her son did not push back at his mother’s behavior towards his bride, told me enough about him. I am trying not to be too judgmental here; probably not doing a good job, but here are a couple of examples of what I am talking about. The mother would ask her son to stop by after work then keep him there for dinner, without asking his wife to join. Now granted the son could/should have said something, but he did not; or he could have said he has to get home because his wife was making dinner. Another thing she would do is only give her daughter-in-law a generic birthday card, while everyone else in the family always received beautiful gifts on their birthdays. Granted this is my opinion, but this is why I found the mother-in-law’s behavior appalling. THE THING I DO NOT UNDERSTAND is why should it matter if a person is of a different religion or for that fact, a different skin color. Human is human, how does one justify having negative feelings about someone who believes in a different religion? Or what fault can be found for someone’s ancestors coming from a different part of the world; we all still have so much in common, if one would just invest the time to find out. For myself, I do not know if it was due to my upbringing, schooling or life experiences that these two things about a person (religion & race) were unimportant to me. Putting environmental issues aside, what does the color of an individual’s skin, the shape of their eyes, their religious beliefs have to do with who they are as a good person. Sure, there are those who “practice what they preach” and there are those whose actions could be considered stereotypical; however, do these things change a person’s morals or heart or empathy? In my dating life I have dated people from all walks of life and places from earth; the only thing that mattered is if they were a good person. You can see what I am talking about if you choose to see this Oscar nominated film. HOW DOES ONE REVIEW A REMAKE of an iconic, classic movie? I will give it a try. Directed by Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List) with Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars, Baby Driver) as Tony, newcomer Rachel Zegler as Maria, Ariana DeBose (The Prom, Hamilton) as Anita, David Alvarez (American Rust-TV) as Bernardo and Rita Moreno (Play it by Ear, Jane the Virgin-TV) as Valentina; this adaptation of the 1957 film stands on its own merits. The filming and direction were outstanding; Steven is a real storyteller. I was stunned that Ansel not only could sing but sing so well. He was a perfect match for Rachel. For me, the music and songs are the highlight. I felt the choreography was better than the original film because it seemed to have a better fit into the story. What surprised me was the script. The way it was updated, the story made more sense to me. Sadly, because the timing was not right for when this picture came out, few people got to see it. If you are a fan of musicals or even not, then you deserve to treat yourself by seeing this beautifully retooled story about two people in love.
3 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: The Batman
THE HEAVINESS OF SADNESS AND GRIEF affects each of us differently. Not only am I good example of this, but I have encountered many others whose experiences went from one extreme to the other and everything in between. At an early stage of my life, I used to deal with my emotions by stuffing them inside and in turn, stuffing my mouth with food. The more upset I was the more I would consume from the pantry, refrigerator, ice cream truck, candy store and any other source that would satisfy my tastes and make me feel good. It took a long time, but I eventually learned how to better deal with the pain of grief and sadness. During my dating years, I wound up doing a heavy year long stint of volunteering after a heart wrenching breakup. A friend of mine, upon getting dumped by a boyfriend, would go through her photos and either scratch out her ex-boyfriend with a black marker or delete him completely. I have other friends who withdraw when they experience something traumatic. They prefer being by themselves, immersed in all their sadness until they get to a point where they begin to start rebuilding themselves back into the living world. I depended on this method for a long time. It was nothing for me to stay home and watch a dozen movies over a weekend, while dealing with my pain. ONE OF THE MORE CONSTRUCTIVE REACTIONS I had due to grief was going to school to be a psychiatrist. Due to what I had suffered in my earlier years, I wanted to be in a position where I could help others who had suffered at the hands of a bully. The first couple of years of college were intense for me as I navigated the amount of course work with the amount of emotional baggage I had brought to school. Having lived through the experience, I felt I would have an advantage in assisting my future patients who had similar trauma to mine. As it turned out, I discovered I had few filters to keep me from becoming fully involved with a person who was dealing with familiar grief. Instead of helping them to discover the means to heal themselves, I found myself wanting to tell them what to do. I knew this would not be a solid fit for me; if someone was doing something that I thought was not a good move, I could see myself bluntly telling them to “knock it off” or saying something like “that makes no sense.” Looking back, I know I made the right decision and am now better equipped to handle grief or sadness. As for the main character in this action crime drama, see what he is doing to alleviate his grief. A SERIES OF GRUESOME MURDERS OF Gotham’s political figures, forces Batman, played by Robert Pattinson (Tenet, The Lighthouse), into a cat and mouse game that could lead him to startling revelations. With Zoe Kravitz (Kimi, Rough Night) as Selina Kyle, Jeffrey Wright (The French Dispatch, Shaft) as Lt. James Gordon, Colin Farrell (Phone Booth, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as Oz and Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood, Love & Mercy) as The Riddler; this film was totally dark in every aspect of the word. It is a grittier and more menacing Gotham than the versions from the past. When I left the movie theater, I felt unsatisfied; however, as I have been thinking more about this film, I have softened in my position a bit. For me, Zoe and Colin where the standout actors. Zoe can be spun off into her own movies in my opinion. Robert, for the way his character was written, was a good choice; but I did not connect to his Batman until closer to the end. And speaking of the end, this picture was way too long at 2 hours and 56 minutes. Some scenes were engaging for me, others dragged. Overall, I get the idea what the director and writers were trying to do. I only wish I did not have to sit so long in the dark and dourness of both the visuals and script.
2 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: House of Gucci
MY FRIEND WAS SO EXCITED TO show me her new designer purse. It was a good thing she told me ahead of time because when I saw it, I thought it looked like a premium gift one would have received for opening a new bank account. The purse looked ugly to me, with the designer’s initials being repeated row after row all around the bag. But then again, I was never fond of having “name/designer brands” or logos on clothing. When I was a little kid, I had a couple of pullover shirts that had a little crocodile patch attached to them. I never liked crocodiles, so I could not understand why I had to wear a shirt with one on it. All I said to my friend was how happy I was for her to get something she had been wanting for a long time. Little did I know I would see the same design on so many purses women were carrying all around the city. It was not too long before other designers were putting their initials on their clothing items. I thought for sure the people who could not afford these designer brands would be judged by their “ordinary” purses. To me, it looked like a caste system was being formed based on the brand of purse or clothing one was wearing. MAYBE IT WAS A REACTION TO that idea, that drove me to look for fitness wear that was not simply an advertisement for the manufacturer. I started buying novelty T-shirts that were funny or quirky. Gaining the opportunity to be able to travel, I started buying a T-shirt and hat from every state I visited. Soon two dozen shirts and hats blossomed into 50, then 100; until I wound up with over 300 T-shirts, none advertising a logo or brand name. Sure, I was stuck with workout shoes that had the company’s logo on them, but I always looked first for a nondescript article. I continued to keep my principles even after the imitation/fake items doused the consumer. My lesson in fake items took place at a flea market, where a booth was selling what I thought were expensive watches. It turned out the items piled on the table were fake but looked so close to the originals that I do not think many people would know the difference. However, underneath the tables unbeknownst to me were watches that were made at the same factories as the name brand ones. They were tweaked a bit in cost cutting moves but essentially, they were coming from the same watch company but for more than ½ the price. I thought it was crazy but then I watched this Oscar nominated film. FROM A SIMPLE LIFE PATRIZIA REGGIANI, PLAYED by Lady Gaga (A Star is Born, Sin City: A Dame to Kill), had no idea who she was looking at when she saw the awkward man behind the bar. If she knew who she was looking at, she certainly did not know what went with the man’s name. With Adam Driver (The Last Dual, Marriage Story) as Maurizio Gucci, Al Pacino (The Irishman, Dick Tracy) as Aldo Gucci, Jeremy Irons (Margin Call, Assassin’s Creed) as Rodolfo Gucci and Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, Requiem for a Dream) as Paolo Gucci; what saved this movie inspired by a true story was Lady Gaga. She was totally committed to the character to the point I forgot it was her. Because of her performance, Adam Driver was pushed into the background; granted the fact he could not hold onto an Italian accent did not help his cause. As for Jared, I had not idea it was him until I saw the ending credits. The script and direction were weak in my opinion. It was nearly halfway before things started to gel better together and the story finally kept my interest. The story was unbelievable if any of it was true in this picture. And looking up a photo afterwards of Patrizia Reggiani, the producers did perfect casting with choosing Lady Gaga.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: tick, tick…BOOM!
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE who sacrifice to make their dreams succeed and those who get it handed to them. From my work and life experiences, I have seen the results from both ways. There was the job I had where the owner was the son, who inherited the business after his father passed away. The son was not a pleasant man to work for because he never really had to work to make the business succeed. He had big ideas, but because he did not understand the amount of work needed to succeed, he lost everything when he opened a retail store in a large shopping center. The new store lasted a little over one year before he had to close it down, since it never turned a profit. I remember when I first started to teach fitness, I thought about making it a full-time job/career. For three solid years I worked at making a name for myself as I studied the presenters at fitness conventions, wondering if I could get to that level in the fitness world. At one point I was working at 5 different locations, doing a multitude of classes; I never turned down an offer to sub for an instructor who could not teach their class that day. It was a hectic pace that did not allow me to socialize much. Now, I knew that would be the case and I was willing to focus all my energy on teaching classes while taking classes to increase my knowledge in the fitness world. WHEN I DECIDED TO START WRITING movie reviews here, I made a promise to myself that I would write a review every day for one entire year, and I did it. My life was basically filled with either sitting in movie theaters or sitting at home writing reviews. After the first year, I did not want to stop but understood I could not keep up such a pace and now it has been over 10 years of me writing reviews at a slower pace. In the scheme of things, my sacrifices were not life and death decisions unlike a friend of mine who had to become the main wage earner in her household. After her husband lost his job, she took on extra shifts at work to make up the loss of household income. She realized she would not be able to keep up the pace for the long term; so, she enrolled back in school to complete her master’s degree. With the added degree her wages and job opportunities would increase quickly. This meant she would be working at her job and with schoolwork for 1 solid year with no breaks, and she did it. It was a major sacrifice for their relationship but once it was done, they both had a deeper appreciation of each other and their life together. This biographical musical drama can show you what can happen when one makes a sacrifice. HIS DREAM WAS TO WRITE THE next great musical; but with the clock ticking Jonathan Larson, played by Andrew Garfield (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, 99 Homes), felt the pressure on what he would do with his life if he failed. With Alexandra Shipp (X-Men franchise; Love, Simon) as Susan, Robin de Jesus (The Boys in the Band, Hair Brained) as Michael, Vanessa Hudgens (Beastly, Spring Breakers) as Karessa and Joshua Henry (American Renegades, Sex and the City) as Roger; this Oscar nominated movie is something that musical theater fans would love. The big surprise for me was how good Andrew was with his performance; he held his own with the other wonderful performers in the cast. Overall, I thought the directing was crisp and precise, though at times it almost felt frenetic. I do not know how much of the story was true; but for those of you who do not know, this story is about the creation of the musical Rent. Knowing that made my film watching experience more enjoyable. As I mentioned before, if one is not a fan of musicals, they may not enjoy this picture as much.
3 ¼ stars
Flash Movie Review: Death on the Nile
I AM THE FIRST ONE TO wear gloves and earmuffs in late autumn and I am the last to stop wearing them in the early part of spring. So, it made sense for me to agree to fly out of the cold winter weather and stay at a resort on a Caribbean Island. My only hesitation was the fact that I would be on the resort’s property for the entire time. I usually am not that comfortable being thrown in with strangers in a confined area for a lengthy duration of time. On an airplane, it does not bother me to sit among unfamiliar passengers or at a catered affair, where I am seated with strangers at a dinner table. However, being at a resort with the same people day in and day out, was rattling me a bit. On the plus side, the weather was in the 80’s when we landed with bright sunshine. The first night there, introductions were being made at the dinner reception; I was somewhat quiet as I was scanning the room, looking at the variety of individuals in attendance. A woman standing next to me started talking about how the heat was already making her body feel better. I agreed with her and for the next 10 minutes she cited off a list of her ailments and what she was doing to try and remedy them. I couldn’t wait to get away; but wound up seeing her every day, where she gave me an update on her health status. THERE WAS A GENTLEMAN WHO I had met that I tried to avoid as well. He was a boastful, arrogant man who did or did not know he was talking down to people. He was at my table, but you would have thought he was holding court for his subjects. It is a challenge, at least for me, to have a discussion with someone who always thinks they know better. We were talking about fitness, and he had to show me the program he uses to track his fitness progress. Looking at it, I noticed everything he was doing was focused on building up muscle in his body. I asked him what he was doing for his heart, that I did not see any cardio work being done. From that comment, I basically got a lecture about how he does his workouts fast to get his heart involved. He even had to make a point to me that he sweats which I knew was not an indicator of the amount work one was giving to their heart. I already knew better than to try and correct him. Now you know why I am not comfortable being grouped with strangers for an extended amount of time; you never know how things will go. You can see for yourself in this dramatic crime mystery. ENJOYING A WELL-DESERVED VACATION ON a cruise boat took an awful turn for detective Hercule Poirot, played by Kenneth Branagh (All is True, My Week with Marilyn), when a dead body showed up. With Tom Bateman (Cold Pursuit, Snatched) as Bill, Annette Bening (The Report, The Seagull) as Euphemia Bouc, Russell Brand (Army of One, Arthur) as Windlesham and Michael Rouse (1917, Murder on the Orient Express) as Private Laurin; this movie started out slow for me. The cast was good and some of the sets were beautiful; however, I felt the script pushed most of the excitement to the last half. Though I enjoyed seeing the exotic outdoor scenes, some of them did not look real to me. The other factor that affected me was the lack of excitement throughout most of the film. It goes without saying that Agatha Christie’s book was much better. On the bright side, I only had to be with these strangers for a couple of hours before I got to leave and go back home.
2 ½ stars
moviejoltz 