Steven Spielberg directs this Cold War espionage thriller about insurance lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks) who is selected by the CIA to represent a Soviet spy in American court. After an American spy plane is shot down over Soviet air space, Donovan is called on again to negotiate a trade - one spy for another.
The story is so riveting and the script so well written by Matt Charman and the Coen Brothers that the narrative seems to move at a gingerly pace. Hanks turns in another bravura performance, but who really impressed me was Mark Rylance as Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. Rylance turns in a nuanced, understated performance that makes me want to seek out more of his work. He's slated to play the title character in Spielberg's upcoming Roald Dahl adaptation The BFG, and after seeing Bridge of Spies, I think Rylance is a marvelous choice. The film is also very well lit and shot by DP Janusz Kaminski. Figures don't seem to glow as they have in some of Kaminski's previous work. Rather this film seems to be an exercise in visual economy. The viewer always sees what he/she needs to see, and the atmosphere appears clean, clear and cool. My only major gripe is that this is one of two movies this weekend in which actress Amy Ryan is limited to a wifely/motherly role with little to no agency.
GRADE: A
Goosebumps
Where Bridge of Spies displays visual economy, Goosebumps demonstrates narrative economy. It moves at a breakneck pace in which just about every moment services the plot or character development.
The story follows a kid named Zach (Dylan Minnette) who moves to a sleepy Delaware town with his mother (Amy Ryan) who's taken a job as the vice principal at her son's new high school. Talk about awkward. Zach befriends his next door neighbor Hannah (Odeya Rush), the daughter of children's book author R.L. Stine (Jack Black). Stine is adamant that Zach and Hannah are not to see each other, but things go awry when Zach tries to save Hannah from what he mistakenly believes is a domestic dispute with her father. He breaks into their home and accidentally opens one of the transcripts in Stine's office, unleashing every manner of monsters, ghouls and creepy crawlies from the Goosebumps canon.
I had tons of fun with this. While the fast pacing and visual effects may overwhelm some, Goosebumps features several genuinely hilarious moments and pitch-perfect performances. The cast fully commits to the silliness. Black especially shows a dark edge that makes the experience so much more interesting than just early Halloween eye candy. This is a good horror comedy for the whole family.
GRADE: B
Crimson Peak
Following a mysterious family tragedy, a young woman (Mia Wasikowska) from New York is whisked away to a mansion in the English countryside after she falls for an outsider (Tom Hiddleston).
Guillermo Del Toro's unique visual style is on full display. The costume and production designers deserve Oscars. The film isn't especially scary in the traditional "horror movie" sense, but Crimson Peak revels in the macabre and nods to several hallmarks of Gothic cinema/literature. You'll notice specks of Jane Eyre, Rebecca, The Innocents, and The Uninvited among other influences. I've never particularly cared for Wasikowska as an actress but Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain, who plays his sister, are both terrific.
GRADE: A-
99 Homes
A man (Andrew Garfield) and his mother and son (Laura Dern, Noah Lomax) are evicted from their home in Orlando, Florida. In order to get it back, he begins working for the shady real estate broker that took everything from him (Michael Shannon).
Shannon gives another great performance as the real estate magnate, but Garfield turns in his finest work to date as the desperate Dennis Nash. There was some talk of Oscar potential for the two lead actors, but I don't think this movie has it. As great as their performances are, I don't think Broad Green or Noruz Films have the money to put together an Oscar campaign for this film. It's destined to be overlooked like Drive and so many other deserving indies over the past several years. Aside from that, 99 Homes tells a riveting story that would've been perfect had it come out at the height of the housing collapse a few years ago. Now it feels something like old news.
GRADE: B+
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