Movie Reviews - Boy Erased

Director: Joel Edgerton
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 115 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton

Description: The son (Lucas Hedges) of a Baptist preacher (Russel Crowe) is forced to participate in a church-supported gay conversion program after being forcibly outed to his parents.

Review: Actor/ director Joel Edgerton always pick interesting projects. And “Boy Erased” is one of them. Edgerton directs this drama based on a true story, but also portrays a very important character in the film.
Jared is the son of a Baptist preacher. He is a kind and intelligent young man, with loving parents. When Jared tells his parents he is gay, they send him to a church-supported gay conversion program, to get ‘cured’.
“Boy Erased” is an unnerving story. As a naïve viewer, you watch this story with perplexity. It really touched my soul, deep, seeing how some circles dealt with homosexuality.
The cast is really strong. Lucas Hedges has showed his skills a few times before, but his performance in “Boy Erased” is fantastic. Joel Edgerton as well. But it’s Nicole Kidman who shines most, as Jared’s mother. A great performance.
“Boy Erased” never played in the Dutch theaters, because they thought it wouldn’t be interesting enough for the mainstream audience. I think more people should see this film, it’s excellent.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Movie Reviews - Lady Bird

Director: Greta Gerwig
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 94 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Jordan Rodrigues, Odeya Rush

Description: In 2002, an artistically inclined seventeen-year-old girl (Saoirse Ronan) comes of age in Sacramento, California.

Review: What do you want to be when you grow up? Many people who are on their dead bed don’t even know the answer to that question. But for some it’s clear very early on in which direction their life is going. For some it’s an eternal search. Teenager Lady Bird is somewhere in between. But can you blame other fort his?
Actress Greta Gerwig already wrote a handful of screenplays and made her directorial debut about a decade ago. But with “Lady Bird” she shows herself as a true filmmaker. The central character in this coming-of-age story is teenager Lady Bird and her search for her purpose in life. And her relationship with her mother is a big part of that. One moment they are listening to an audiobook together in the car, filled with emotion. The next minute, Lady Bird throws herself out of that car after a discussion with her mom.
She is actually called Christine, but because she is bored of the dull life in Sacramento, she decides to give herself the name Lady Bird.
The quest for adulthood is a common given in movies, because it makes room for character development. And that’s something that keeps a dramedy interesting. But in “Lady Bird” everything falls into the right place. And not only because of Greta Gerwig. Also actress Saoirse Ronan, who plays the title role.
“Lady Bird” is not the kind of film with rigorous twists or melodramatic changes and happenings. And this all makes this film very relatable. And Gerwig doesn’t force a moral on you either.
Not only Ronan deserves praise. Also her movie mom, played by Laurie Metcalfe, deserves to be mentioned.
“Lady Bird” is an excellent coming-of-age story, very well performed by Ronan and Metcalfe and a great director Greta Gerwig.

Rating: 4 / 5

Movie Reviews - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Director: Martin McDonagh
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 115 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Caleb Landry Jones, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage, Lucas Hedges, Abbie Cornish

Description: A mother (Frances McDormand) personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter's murder when they fail to catch the culprit.

Review: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is a strong film, with an original screenplay and lots of unpredictability. Frances McDormand plays, as a broken and fighting mother, the role of her life.
I’m glad we finally got another monumental film, that is not mainly leaning on pretty pictures to decorate the story and a soundtrack to keep the pace. If this film doesn’t win any awards for best screenplay, leading lady and supporting actor, I don’t know what the hell is wrong with Hollywood.
When it looks like you’re dealing with a simple story, but it turns out to be a realistic drama with dark humor. Director and writer Martin McDonagh, who already brought us two very brilliant films “In Bruges” and “Seven Psychopaths”, shows us how this is done.
We follow mother Mildred Hayes, who lost her daughter who was raped and murdered. Because she believes the local authorities are failing her, she rents three billboards. On those billboards she puts the following messages: ‘Raped while dying’, ‘And still no arrests?’, ‘How come Chief Willoughby?’.
This provocative message becomes the talk of the town. Chief Willoughby, played by Woody Harrelson, is personally attacked. But he also has his own problems, because he is facing terminal cancer. Beside him there is Jason Dixon, portrayed by Sam Rockwell, the racist, alcoholic ‘bad cop’ with a dominant mother.
Frances McDormand plays the best role to date. And she has her fair share of memorable performances. But my favorite was Sam Rockwell. What a performance!
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” will definitely end up on my favorites list at the end of 2018. Fantastic film!

Rating: 5 / 5