21 Bridges

Brian Kirk's 21 Bridges casts Chadwick Boseman as Andre Davis, a NY City cop who's spent his life trying to live up to the heroic legacy of his father. And living up to that legacy means Davis fights bad guys with dedicated zeal.

Get in his way and he will go through you if he can't go around you.

The plot of 21 Bridges centers on drug smuggling  -- in fact, there may be more cocaine in this flick than could be found on Wall Street in the 1980s. The plot is predictable, and some of Boseman's dialogue is stilted and stiff.

Despite the flaws, 21 Bridges is a watchable popcorn flick. (Especially if you're off work during Thanksgiving week and have some extra time to burn.)

Knives Out

Recipe For Rian Johnson's Knives Out

Ingredients

1 1/2  Cups Agatha Christie 

3/4     Cups Alfred Hitchcock 

4        A-List stars 

5        B-List stars

2        C-List star 

1        Stylistically-focused writer / director 

2 tbl  Commentary about class and racial division in the U.S.A.

Directions

Blend Christie and Hitchcock until smooth, then add all 11 stars into the mix. Stir well. Combine a visually interesting set with great dialogue and complex characters. Let stand for 30 minutes, then add subtle yet hard-biting political commentary about the issues of the day. Cover and bake for 2 hours 10 minutes.  

The Good Liar

The Good Liar, directed by Bill Condon and starring Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen, aspires to be Hitchcock. But what it is reveled to be is something a bit more pedestrian.

That's not to say the movie is bad. Mirren and McKellen are terrific in their roles, and Condon sets up the story in a way that prevents most viewers from fulling predicting any plot twists.

The Good Liar is a complicated script and -- as with most complicated scripts -- it's replete with plot holes that one must overlook to enjoy the outcome. Condon layers the movie in a way that patches up most of the holes; but it's just a patch, and the holes are only partially filled.

As a result, what could have been a great film is just average.

Ford v Ferrari

OK, movie buffs. It's legit contender time of the year -- get your Oscar checklists ready.

And add Ford v Ferrari to the top of the list.

James Mangold's telling of how Carroll Shelby (played by Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (played by Christian Bale) rose to the task of building a race car that could compete -- and potentially win -- against the Ferrari racing team at the 1966 Le Mans is that good.

Mangold's story is ambitious without being pretentious. The personalities in this story are big, but the most of the actors tell the story in a minimalistic style. There's some race car action, but the real drama of Ford v Ferrari is about watching men compelled to carry out a mission.

It's who they are, and they can't escape it. Even f the consequences are dire.

Ford v Ferrari will have a long list of Academy Award nomination. Certainly, Bale and Damon will be in the hunt. But director James Mangold deserves to be on the best of list. His storytelling here is masterful.

The Lighthouse

Two salty dogs, and

A one-eyed seagull make for

Radiant brilliance 

Motherless Brooklyn

Motherless Brooklyn is Edward Norton's baby. He stars in the flick, he wrote the film adaptation, and it's the first time he's directed since 2000's Keeping The Faith. 

You don't remember Keeping the Faith, which stared Norton, Ben Stiller, and Jenna Elfman? Well, you'll remember Motherless Brooklyn.

In 1959 low-rent private investigator Lionel Essrog works his way through a murder mystery that has devestating personal and professional ramifications. Essrog happens to have Tourette's syndrome, which both aids and hampers his PI work.  He's considered disordered and immature by his peers, who call him "freakshow." 

"You're no freakshow," his boss Frank Minna whispers to him during a crucial moment early in the film. The audience doesn't believe it, though, and neither does Essrog. He's been trying unsuccessfully to acclimate his entire life. The whisper means something to him, and it helps get Essrog onto the plot path. Butt he doesn't believe Minna.

By the end he, and the audience, do. 

Motherless Brooklyn feels like a period piece detective story. The dialogue is quick and snappy, surprises arise throughout, villains are a bit of a caricature, and it has a really cool musical score that helps form the movie's identity. The plot shines light on a variety of social ills, including capitalistic greed and racism (and how the two are often combined). 

But, the best part is watching Norton's Essrog overcome insecurity, his disorder, and a lifetime of challenges to find his confidence. 

Although the movie isn't perfect -- there are some minor plot holes, and some of the outcomes are obvious -- it's worth seeing in a theater. The supporting cast alone (Willem Dafoe, Bruce Willis, Ethan Suplee, Bobby Cannavalle, Alec Baldwin, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) are worth the trip downtown and the price of a ticket. 

The cherry on top, though, is watching two-plus hours of Edward Norton transforming his character from man-child to grown man. It's sorta his thing, and he does it as well here as he has in any of his previous works.