The Snake Brothers (orig. Kobry a Užovky) [2015]

MPAA (UR would be R)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CinEuropa.org listing
CSFD.cz listing*
FDB.cz listing*

Aktuálně.cz (J. Gregor) review*
iDnes.cz (M. Spáčilová) review*
Lidovky.cz (M. Kabát) review*
Novinky.cz (S. Dvořák) review*

APUM.com (E. Luna) review*
CinEuropa.org (M. Kudláč) review
EyeForFilm.co.uk (R. Mowe) review
Variety (G. Lodge) review

The Snake Brothers (orig. Kobry a Užovky) [2015] [IMDb] [CEu] [CSFD]*[FDB]* (directed by Jan Prušinovský [IMDb] [CEu] [CSFD]*[FDB]*, screenplay by Jaroslav Žváček [IMDb] [CEu] [CSFD]*) is a rather dark if often quite funny CZECH COMEDY (OF SORTS) that played recently at the 19th (2016) Chicago European Union Film Festival held here at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago.

The film is about two grown brothers, both in their mid-later 20s, from a very dysfunctional family living in a random, mid-sized town somewhere in the CR today.

The younger one, nick-named Cobra (played by Kryštof Hádek [IMDb] [CSFD]* [FDB]*) is clearly "off" and arguably a petty psychopath, routinely getting himself into trouble.  The film's opening sequence shows him, with short purple hair and wearing a thug-like grey hoodie, breaking into a random home at the edge of town, IN BROAD DAY LIGHT, stealing the home's electronic equipment...

His older / more responsible brother nicknamed Užovka or Gardener Snake (played by Matěj Hádek [IMDb] [CSFD]* [FDB]*) finds himself _repeatedly_ bailing his younger brother out of various jams that he finds himself in, often to personal cost to himself (early in the film, he loses his job as a result of helping his brother from a run-in with the police outside a bar  the night before) and receives nothing even remotely resembling support or sympathy from most others for his efforts.  Even the two's own mother (played by Jana Šulcová [IMDb] [CSFD]* [FDB]*) considers her older son Užovka the bigger problem.  (Interestingly, there isn't a father, around at all...).

Why would Užovka be "the bigger problem"?  He doesn't keep sufficient eye on his younger brother to keep him out of trouble.  (But realistically, could he or ANYONE be able to do so?)  Then Užovka, who seems to be the only one in the family with a job -- Cobra is hopeless, and even ma' is apparently on public assistance -- apparently "doesn't come visiting (the other two) too much."  (Apparently Užovka's found a way to move out of the house, something _not_ particularly easy or common to do among young people in the CR even today)  Why would he want to move out even if it adds to expenses?   Well, when he's home, he's berated by his mom for not taking care of his younger brother enough and is shaken down (by her ...) for money ...  What a joy.

Then to folks / friends outside, rightly or wrongly (if they care to involve themselves at all) Užovka's simply from a "family of losers."

Early in the film, Užovka is berated by a former girlfriend named Zůza, short in Czech for Susan (played by Lucie Žáčková [IMDb] [CSFD]* [FDB]*), for being an incompetent dreamer/loser.  She's since married Užovka's former high school best friend Tomáš (played by Jan Hájek [IMDb] [CSFD]* [FDB]*), now an auto-mechanic, who's actually kinda getting tired of Zůza, as she's been "on maternity leave" now for 8 years (they have 2 kids ... but the youngest is like 6 ...) and HE'D really like to see her get a job.

So this then is the story's setup, which then focuses primarily on "Užovka" (again, the "Gardener Snake") in the story.   And it's about HIS slow "redemption" _of sorts_:

Another old "friend" from school named Ladík (played by David Máj [IMDb] [CSFD]* [FDB]*), rolls into to town "with a business proposal" (to open up some sort of a "clothing outlet store" in this random, rather depressed and certainly not going anywhere fast, town) and HE hits up Užovka to "help him."

How?  Well, obviously Ladík is a crook, even Užovka knows that.  Further, THE ONLY WAY that Užovka could "help" him would be TO HIT UP HIS OWN GRANDMOTHER (played wonderfully by Věra Kubánková [IMDb] [CSFD]* [FDB]*) TO PUT UP HER OWN HOUSE (the ONLY THING that ANYONE in Užovka's family actually owns) AS COLLATERAL for Užovka's loan (to help _Ladík_ start said business).

Now Readers understand here that Ladík PUT UP NO MONEY OF HIS OWN ... Instead, he's "founding a business" using Užovka's money, specifically money that Užovka got _from his grandma_ who put her own house on the line to get Užovka a loan.  (And yes, that Užovka got his own grandmother to risk her own house in her old age for his sake, does make him _something of a snake_ as well ...).

Why would Užovka do this, knowing quite well that Ladík is almost certainly a crook, and risk putting his own grandmother on the street for the sake of a venture that, at best, would be a "roll of the dice"?

Well Readers, why would ANYONE do that?  Obviously, because he didn't see (m)any other options.  So despite everything, he took this one.

What happens?  Well that's the rest of the movie ...

That the story is characterized as "a comedy" suggests that it (has to) "end well" (at least in some way) and it does (sort of).  But it is one heck of a ride ... and it isn't easy ...


Now, remember Readers, I am a Catholic priest, and I'm also actually of Czech descent (hence why I do enjoy watching not just American stories and then why I do (for heritage / still "old patriotic reasons") continue to hold Czech films / stories in "a special regard" ;-).  Understand also that I know quite well that the Czechs today, especially in the Czech Republic, are not exactly known for their "religiosity."

So as I watched most of this film, I kept shaking my head, saying to myself: "You know, this is what happens in a society that  no longer believes in God (everybody becomes a crook)...."  

 But by the end of the film, I actually realized that there's actually a fair amount of Biblical imagery (if perhaps present only _accidentally_) in the film.

Now how would that imagery get included if "only by accident"?  Similar observations have been made of French films / literature in the past as well: A culture that has been as steeped in a particular religion (Christianity) for as long as it has will inevitably retain the religion's symbolic language long after its common practice has gone dormant or died.  Why?  Religion is ultimately about Life and the same Truths / metaphorical expressions of them remain whether the Religion is held-to or not.  So a film such as this one about "Crookedness" / "Sin" and "Family" can not but allude to / make use of symbolism that any Christian would be familiar with, notably:

(1) The entire film could actually be seen as "a contemporary commentary" on the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32) with a number of twists: (i) the Father is clearly absent in this story.  He's remembered well by all -- the mother, as wel as the two sons -- but simply "long gone," (ii) Interestingly, since there is "no Father," there also "is no money." The two brothers had grown up in a "singe parent household") so even the younger brother never left home.  (In fact, it's the older brother who at least gets an apartment, nearby, on his own so that he can "get away from the dysfunction" at home).  Finally, (iii) clearly, the story here is taken more from the perspective of the older / "more responsible" of the brothers, but ...

(2) It's clear just from the film's title that BOTH brothers are to be seen as "snakes," an obvious Biblical image taken from story of The Fall (Gen 2-3).  One interesting nuance added here and is that one of the brothers is nicknamed "Cobra" and other "Užovka" (or "Gardener Snake") hence noting that while both would be sinners / "snakes," one would be "a bigger sinner" (certainly a bigger problem) than the other ...

(3) Finally, the story of Užovka's "redemption of sorts" REMINDS ONE A LOT OF THAT OF THE BIBLICAL STORY OF JACOB (Gen 25-33), who, if one is honest, was _also_ "A LITTLE THIEF."  The Biblical Jacob stole his brother Esau's inheritance (Gen 27:1ff).  And later Jacob stole from his father-in-law Laban (Gen 30:25ff).  BUT THEN, LIKE UŽOVKA in this story, Jacob didn't necessarily have a lot of options, and at the end of many years of a very difficult (and not completely honest life) Jacob spent a night in the Desert "wrestling" with a mysterious man (Gen 32:23ff), at the end of which he received from that mysterious man, a new name -- Israel -- which means "One who wrestles with God" (Gen 32:29).


Anyway thoughout the story, Užovka was always "kind of a snake" / not always honest, but he was also never completely "a lost cause" or "evil."  As such, at the end of the film, the screenwriters do seem to bless him as well ...

One interesting if, often enough, unnerving film ;-)


* Foreign language webpages are most easily translated using Google's Chrome Browser. 

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Latin Lover [2015]

MPAA (UR would be R)  Fr. Dennis (4 Stars)

IMDb listing
CinEuropa.org listing
FilmTv.it listing*

LeRepubblica.it (C. Ugolini) review*
Panorama.it (S. Santoni) review*
ComingSoon.it (D. Catelli) review*
MyMovies.it (P. Casella) review*

The Hollywood Reporter (D. Young) review
Variety (N. Vivarelli) review

Latin Lover [2015] [IMDb] [CEu] [FT.it]* (directed and cowritten by Cristina Comencini [IMDb] [CEu] [FT.it]* along with Giulia Calenda [IMDb] [CEu]) is an often very funny if at times biting / painful and certainly _thoroughly deconstructive_ ITALIAN COMEDY about the post-War through 1970s Myth of the "Latin Lover."  The film played recently at the 19th (2016) Chicago European Union Film Festival held at the Gene Siskel Film Center here in Chicago.

The story is set in the context of the funeral, er "memorial service" for a (fictionalized) "iconic" Italian actor from said era (the 1950s-70s) named Saverio Crispo (played by Francesco Scianna [IMDb] [FT.it]*) and needless to say, "all is family" is to be there.

That's, of course, the problem, because said family includes:

(1) His two wives, "the first, the Italian one," Rita (played by Virna Lisi [IMDb] [FT.it]*) as well as "the later Spanish one," Ramona (played by Marisa Paredes [IMDb] [FT.it]*) as well as

(2) their daughters Suzanna (played by Angela Finochiaro [IMDb] [FT.it]*), by Rita, and Segunda (literally "the second one") (played by Candela Peña [IMDb] [FT.it]*) by Ramona.

Then, of course, to be included are (3) at least _some_ of his better known / still more attached to the family, illegitimate children -- Solveig (played by Pihla Vitala [IMDb] [FT.it]*) born of a young Swedish starlet of the era and apparently raised by together with Segunda by dutiful second wife Ramona, as well as quite nice (raised by her French actress mother) but almost utterly neurotic Stephanie (played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi [IMDb] [FT.it]*).   Finally, there's even a young rising American New York jazz scene piano player named Shelley (played by Nadeah Miranda [IMDb] [FT.it]*) who, "sooo far" (in sooo many ways....) from the rest of this patchwork mess of a family, comes late to the funeral, who Saverio never knew, but whom SHE met once (mild spoiler: Severino, her father, actually hit on her ... his (unknownst to him ...) daughter... Yuck.  Yes ... but _given his life_ "how would he know?" ...).

So THIS ... is the man to be eulogized at this funeral, er "memorial service ..."

And the men in the story -- an old "film critic" friend of his, nicknamed "Picci" (played with quite wonderful old-age cluelessness by Toni Bertorelli [IMDb] [FT.it]*) who serves as "MC" at the memorial service, as well as fawning long-since wash-out of an actor named "Pedro" (played wonderfully by Lluís Homar [IMDb] [FT.it]*) whose "greatest moment" of his life was working as a bit actor in one of Saverio's early 1960s era Westerns, as well as a few of Saverio's daughters' louts of husbands -- simply DON'T SEEM TO APPRECIATE what kind of an utter and _often painful_ disaster Saverio's _personal life_ was.  To many of them, EVEN FACED "WITH THE EVIDENCE RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM" ... Saverio was (sincerely) "living the dream" ;-)

It's one heck of a movie ... and one that honestly could only be made in this way _by a woman_. ;-)

So fantastic job folks, fantastic job ;-)


* Foreign language webpages are most easily translated using Google's Chrome Browser. 

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Glassland [2014]

MPAA (UR would be R)  Irish Times (3 1/2 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CinEuropa.org listing

Irish Times (D. Clarke) review
 
Eye For Film (A. Wilkinson) review
Sight & Sound (T. Johnston) review
AVClub (M. D'Angelo) review
The Hollywood Reporter (B. van Hoiej) review
Variety (P. DeBruge) review

Glassland [2014] [IMDb] [CEu] (written and directed by Gerard Barrett [IMDb] [CEu]) would seem a rather straight-forward if then certainly poignant even urgent contemporary FAMILY DRAMA from IRELAND that played recently at the 19th (2016) Chicago European Union Film Festival held at the Gene Siskel Film Center here in Chicago.

John (played by Jack Reynor [IMDb]) is a Dubliner entering his mid-twenties who, driving the taxi left to him by his father (deceased), finds himself the only one in his family with a job.  He has a younger brother who's institutionalized in what in the states we'd call in the States a "moderate care" /  "assisted living facility" with  Downs Sydrome, and his mother, on public assistance, is an alcoholic.

The film is a reminder that alcoholism is a progressive rather than simply chronic disease, it isn't simply a "burden" or "annoyance" ... it does lead to ever increasing problems / difficulties and eventually to death.

So this is where John finds himself.  While there is stability in other parts of his life -- he's gotten pretty good at being a taxi driver, he's been a pretty good / responsible son and brother, and even if it may be mildly frustrating to him that his best friend's life (friend played by Will Poulter) is still _unfinished_ and, indeed, _unfolding_ (while John's appears to have hit the point of "as good as it gets" -- in his early mid twenties ...) -- the situation with John's mother is clearly beginning to undermine that: John comes home one afternoon and finds her passed-out barely breathing on her bed.  After calling the paramedics who take her quickly to the hospital where they revive her, he's told by the attending physician that her liver function is fast approaching a point that she's going to need a liver transplant.  But how does one give a liver transplant to someone who's clearly an alcoholic and not doing much about it?  There are only so many donated organs to go around ...

So John has to famously convince his mother, who typically of an alcoholic doesn't want treatment, to get it.  And even after he does, he's told by the counselor, Jim (played excellently by Michael Smiley) that all his facility can provide is 8 days of detox and it's clear that his mother (like most of the other patients at the facility) really need much more.

Yet, putting ma' into a rehab facility for a month or two will cost money, and as is a common theme in _a lot_ of contemporary European "small indie films" both money (on the part of the family, again John's the only one with a job ...) and public funds are not exactly available.

So having set-up the situation, the rest of the film is about the question: What would you do / to what lengths would you go to help a loved one who does need your help?  And remember here, ma' here is not necessarily the most pleasant person to be around ... but she is ... ma'.

It really is an excellent, thought provoking / soul searching film... and lest too many Readers here worry, it does have a more-or-less objectively happy ending at the end.

As something of interesting afterthought / addendum, I would note here a fairly interesting "twist" to the (setup of the) story:  A fairly important character in this story is "Jim" who's presented as a "counselor."  Perhaps in generations past, in an Irish movie, he would have been presented as a Priest.  Now (at minimum) he's "dressed in civilian clothes," and there is no mention of any other duties.  So the audience is invited to understand him as simply a _counselor_, though certainly a very good / competent and empathetic one.

All across Europe and indeed the "Western / Northern world" there is a "de-sacralization" going on.  Someone like me may not be "all that excited about it."  But it is happening. 

WHAT I FIND NICE HERE is that the roles previously taken by clergy, here to be a counselor / manager of a "alcoholic rehab center", CONTINUE.  For whether we (clergy) remain or not, these jobs / services will need to be provided because people do / will continue to need them.

In any case, this is a quite poignant and well crafted story, perhaps "small in scope" but certainly one that "hits home."

So good job, folks, very good job!


* Foreign language webpages are most easily translated using Google's Chrome Browser. 

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Love Island (orig. Otok Ljubavi) [2014]

MPAA (UR would be R)  Fr. Dennis (4+ w. explanation)

IMDb listing
CinEuropa.org listing
Moj-Film.hr listing*

CinEuropa.org (M. Del Don) review

Depo.ba () review*
Filmofil.ba (N. Selimović) review*
JutarnjiList.hr (N. Polimac) review*
RadioSarajevo.ba () review*
VecerniList.hr (J. Peršić) review*

The Hollywood Reporter (S. Dalton) review
Variety (J. Weissberg) review

Love Island (orig. Otok Ljubavi) [2014] [IMDb] [CEu] [MF.hr]*(directed and cowritten by Jasmila Žbanić  [IMDb] [CEu] [MF.hr]* along with Aleksandar Hemon [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb] [CEu] [MF.hr]*) is a truly fun (though appropriately R-rated) Woody Allen-esque BOSNIAN / CROATIAN (still relatively discrete though much is implied) "SEX" COMEDY (co-produced also with GERMAN and SWISS funding) that played recently at the 19th (2016) Chicago European Union Film Festival held at the Gene Siskel Film Center here in Chicago. 

Sarajevo couple Grebo (played by Ermin Bravo [IMDb] [MF.hr]*) and Liliane (played by Ariane Labed [IMDb]) French are on vacation at a resort on the Adriatic Sea in Northern Croatia...

Now during the Cold War, Croatia's Adriatic Coast was enormously popular for vacationers from throughout Eastern Europe.  My own Czech relatives had fond memories of going there.  Croatia, then part of (Communist) Yugoslavia, had back then the advantages of being (1) a place that East Europeans were generally allowed to go, (2) being quite cheap, and (3) Yugoslavia being a Communist but also, more or less, "non-aligned" had the reputation of "looking the other way" when the occasional Czech, Slovak, Hungarian or Polish family "strayed" (with their car/belongings) into Austria / Italy when "on their way home ..."  Then in the 1990s, when tourism could have really exploded, came instead THE BALKAN WARS ... which, of course, all but wiped-out tourism during that time.  But it's been on the upswing again.  And the coast is both beautiful and again far less expensive than equivalent places on the other (Italian) side of the Adriatic.

... back to the story here ;-) ...

It's a lovely place where Grebo and Liliane are, though it may _not_ be a place that most American couples would go in this stage of their lives (different sensibilities) as the two are expecting their first baby and Liliane looks like she's in the last weeks of her pregnancy.

So they, along with others, including Italians -- this part of northern coastal Croatia had belonged to Venice / Italy for centuries before, and indeed, one of the drop dead beautiful Renaissance Era palaces shown in the film had belonged (again for centuries) to a quite prominent Italian family prior to the end of WW II (the CHICAGO based Bosnian born scriptwriter Aleksandar Hemon present for Q/A after the screening noted that the his Croatian collaborator Jasmila Žbanić had really wanted to underline this point, that a lot of this area had belonged to Italians prior to World War II, and yet, that there's also a peace / acceptance now between those "who used to live there" and those who "live there now" ... symbolized in the happy gregarious presence of the Italian tourists there today -- were enjoying themselves quite nicely in this Croatian resort, that IN MANY WAYS looked kinda like every other if perhaps slightly cheaper Florida / Bahamas resort today (down to the goofy "coconut shell" umbrellas on the beach).

Very good, the two are enjoying themselves "at the open air" beach-side club at the resort, which included some "live band karaoke." Grebo, who had apparently spent some of his youth playing in a "garage band" in Sarayevo ;-), certainly partakes.

But Liliane is taken aback by the "stunner" of an M.C. leading the resort's nighttime activities.  The M.C.'s name is Flora (played by Ada Condeescu [IMDb] [MF.hr]*), when she introduces herself to the two, she introduces herself as coming from Romania.  But there's more to the story.  (1) Liliane, remember she's 8 months pregnant, is immediately concerned that Flora's flirting a bit (too much) with her husband and (2) she has a history with Flora -- the two had worked closely, er, _very closely_, together while the two "were in college" ... "in Berlin" ;-).

Much has to ensue ... AND IT DOES ;-) ... Thematically, the film's _definitely_ in R-territory, though visually, the _only nudity_ that one does see is Grebo's quite hairy backside ;-).

For me, remember, I am a Catholic priest, this is such a transgressive film.  AND YET, it is ALSO VERY, VERY FUNNY and KIND.  And Good Readers, REMEMBER WHO MADE THIS FILM ... BOSNIANS ... the ones that just endured the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.

Yes, much is implied, but all but(t) nothing is shown ... and then remember the trauma that these nations went through less than a generation ago.  Indeed, the above mentioned co-scriptwriter for the film, Aleksandar Hemon noted in the Q&A that both he and his good friend Jasmila Žbanić the director _really_ wanted to make A COMEDY, to underline that "Being from the Balkans DOES NOT MEAN 'a life long subscription to genocide'" (HIS WORDS EXACTLY ;-).

So this is a lovely if often "very stupid" film ;-) and while certainly "morally plastic" ;-), again remember what these people went through, and that the whole film is truly done in very, very good fun.  

So while, definitely "not for the little ones," a GREAT JOB FOLKS, TRULY, TRULY GREAT JOB ;-)


* Foreign language webpages are most easily translated using Google's Chrome Browser. 

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Whiskey Tango and Foxtrot [2016]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (O)  ChicagoTribune (2 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (J. Hassenger) review  


Whiskey Tango and Foxtrot [2016] (directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, screenplay by Robert Carlock based on the memoir The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by Kim Barker [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb]) is a film that I'd happily recommend to young people the world-over -- to both young Americans and non and regardless of political affiliation.

I write this because this though this the story is set in Afghanistan during the post 9/11War / Occupation there, it is story about a young woman reporter Kim Barker, fictionalized here slightly as Kim Baker (and played magnificently in the film by Tina Fey) for whom those years in Afghanistan (and Pakistan) _were_ simply yet clearly "the [most significant] time of her life."  And _anyone_ who's ever had relatives who served in / lived through "the Big One" (WW II), Korea or 'Nam would certainly understand.

As such, I am rather surprised at the "lack of love" given to the film by America's official "film criticdom."  Who was offended? / why?  Indeed, when I left the film, I had left it disappointed that it wasn't released earlier, in November / December, because if it had been there would have been buzz about a Tina Fey Oscar nomination.  Instead, it seems to have been "deep sixed" (by whom? / why?) in the "film desert" of late winter.  Again, why?

Is it because the lead character was a woman, based on a book written by a woman war correspondent (a book / film that actually didn't necessarily portray the men all that badly)?  Is it because the film neither draped itself in patriotic colors nor refused to condemn the war?   At times I'm just baffled.

The film, felt like an undated M.A.S.H. [1972-1983] though focusing not on surgeons but rather reporters, with Fey's Kim Baker serving as the film's "Hawkeye."  Her Afghani assistant Ali Massoud Sadiq (played again quite well by Alfred Molina) served as the story's "Radar," a crusty, by the book, but ultimately "father figure-ly" Marine general Hollanek (played by Billy Bob Thorton) with whom she often had to deal with was the story's "Col. Potter" and "hot" / "beyond reach" / "tough" / "experienced" Cristiane Ananpour-like reporter Tanya Vanderpool (played by Margot Richie) was the film's updated / no question anymore, independent "Major Margaret Hoolihan."

Yes, there is a sort of "imperial" to "imperial(ist)" feel to the movie that American viewers should note (and non-American viewers should perhaps _let go_ this time).  After all, the reporters in this film were in the Afghanistan "Ka-bubble" because of the post-9/11 War / Occupation.  But let's remember WHY we went to war in Afghanistan -- because it had become the training ground / staging ground for 9/11.  Prior to 9/11, NO ONE envisioned a need for the U.S. to go there and occupy the country.  After 9/11 it was hard to imagine any alternative: We were certainly not going to let Al Queda / the Taliban try to do it again ... 

So while someone like me -- Clergy, part of an International Religious Order, who's organized in the past Mission trips -- would love to see young people have international (outside of their day-to-day norm) experiences in less drastic / far more peaceful circumstances, I DO APPRECIATE THIS FILM and Kim Baker / Barker's story.  It was for her, like many like her, and even like many of the soldiers present, "the time of her life ..."


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Jane Got a Gun [2016]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB ()  ChiTrib/Variety (2 1/2 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB () review
ChiTrib / Variety (J. Laydon) review
RogerEbert.com (P. Sobczynski) review
AVClub (J. Hassenger) review  

Jane Got a Gun [2016] (directed by Gavin O'Conner, story and screenplay cowritten by Brian Buffield along with Anthony Tambakis and Joel Edgerton) is a solid, well played, more or less conventional contemporary Western (though set in the 1890s)

The film begins with Jane Hammond (played quite convincingly by Natalie Portman) looking out to the horizon of her / her husband's homestead somewhere in the middle of the then New Mexico territory to see a figure on horseback approaching, first at a gallop, then ever more haltingly until the horse stops completely with the figure, turns out it's her husband Bill (played again quite well by Noah Emmerich), falling-off of said horse to the ground some fifty yards from the homestead's fence. What happened?  Jane runs to Bill and finds him pretty shot up.  She struggles to bring him home.  With tools at hand -- forceps, a knife, perhaps knitting needle or two -- she pulls out most of the bullets and  fragments lodged in her husband's body.  And in a halting voice, he warns her, "They're coming."  Who?  She knows who, and ... she gets a gun.

... But what makes the story far more interesting at this point is that, though "she gets her gun" ... she _also_ knows that she doesn't stand a chance against "those who are coming" alone.  So ... she gets on her horse and rides over to another homestead a fair distance away and enlists the help of a friend, Dan Frost (played again quite excellently by Joel Edgarton).  'Cept Dan doesn't necessarily want to help Jane much.  Why?  Well guess.  Clearly there has to be a story there...   Stll, Jane didn't choose randomly when she decided to ride-out to Dan to ask for his help.  And while not necessarily initially excited about being asked for such (let's face it, quite urgent and undoubtedly _not_ cost/risk free) help, Dan soon "comes around."  Why?  Well he knows who / the danger that Jane and Dan are facing -- they've all come to New Mexico from the same town in Missouri --  and he knows that he probably wouldn't be able to live with himself afterwards if he did not help Jane (and even Dan) face the threat (that he again, knew, quite well) that they were facing.

This is a Western, but like most Westerns, it is also a Parable ... here reminding us that while we may choose "to run / hide" from some intolerable situation "back home" for a while ... at some point, "we do have to make a stand."

And so ... Jane does, with her gun, and with her friend ... and the rest of the movie follows ;-)

Honestly, a very well done / well acted and very "classical Western" though also made with contemporary issues / sensibilities in mind.

Good job ;-)


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Where to Invade Next [2015]

MPAA (R)  ChicagoTribune (3 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (4 Stars)  AVClub (B)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (G. Cheshire) review
AVClub (M. D'Angelo) review  

Where to Invade Next [2015] (written and directed by Michael Moore) is a film that to many Americans and to many Readers here would seem like a fantasy:

In a voice over, Michael Moore tells us that he had a dream: The President and U.S. Joint Chief of Staffs invited him over to the White House Situation Room and confessed that they had botched every single war since "the big one" (WW II) and asked him for help.  Michael Moore then offered himself as a "one man army" that would invade lands mostly inhabited by Caucasians with names that he could generally pronounce and that he would take from them ideas that would help make our land great again.

So dressed in an army flak jacket and cap and literally draped in the American flag, Michael Moore sets out to invade ...

Italy (where people seem to always be happy - "like they all just had sex" - why/how?  well they have state mandated 4 weeks vacation which when one includes state holidays and yes "everything closes for August and Christmas" becomes closer to 8 weeks + 13 months pay for 12 months of work each year, sure ;-),

France (where kids seem to eat well, even at school),

Slovenia (where even college education is free, even for foreigners, even for Americans who occasionally find their way to this educational shangrila),

Finland (which banned homework and standardized tests and yet their kids score higher on said international standardized tests, when apparently they take them, than any other country),

Norway (where even maximum security prisons are geared toward rehabilitation, the maximum sentence for any crime is 20 years, and yet has one of the lowest crime rates in the world),

Germany (that has accepted responsibility for past-Genocidal wars / the Holocaust and thus has been able to rejoin the rest of the world and quite happily move on ...),

Portugal (which lowed both crime and drug use by ... decriminalizing drug use and focusing on drug treatment instead),

Tunisia (a nominally Muslim country that actually constitutionally guarantees women equal rights),

and finally Iceland (land of the Vikings, which nonetheless elected the first woman President ever and has found that women run corporations actually run more honestly / better than those run by men.  In the financial crisis of 2008, every major bank in Iceland collapsed except for one run entirely by women which operated under the very simple principle -- if you can't explain it in one or two sentences then don't buy it -- and thus saved their shareholders the disaster of buying into those unfathomable "Collateralized Debt Obligations " that ended up tanking the world's economy).

 A lot of this may upset various American Readers.  How can it be?  It can't be that easy.  And Michael Moore does freely admit that most of these countries have much higher tax rates than the United States.  But he also notes that many of the above services need to be provided and paid for anyway.  And we do ... we just don't call them taxes ... and a lot of people here do without.

Anyway, Michael Moore has long been a lightning rod.   But he does give viewers a lot to think about.    Why do things _have to be_ the way they are here, and _can_ we learn, at least a little, from others?   Especially since many of the ideas that seem to work elsewhere, actually had their origins (or early support) here -- unions, state sponsored education, consumer protection laws, equal rights for women ...

So good job Michael Moore, good job!


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