00s Movie Review - Crazy Heart

Director: Scott Cooper
Genre: Drama/ Romance/ Music
Runtime: 112 minutes
Year: 2009
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert DuVall, Paul Herman

Description: A faled country music artist (Jeff Bridges) is forced to reassess his dysfunctional life during a doomed romance that also inspires him.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 40: A FILM ABOUT MUSIC
 
Review: Jeff Bridges plays Bad Blake, a middle-aged country singer reveling in his past success. Years ago he was one of the most successful singers of his generation with an impressive repertoire, but now he is but a shadow of himself. He lives in cheap motels, playing in pubs and bowling alleys, drinking a lot of alcohol. At one of his gigs he meets Jean Braddock, a single mother trying to make it as a journalist. A romance develops between Blake and Jean, but it remains to be seen whether Blake can leave his unhealthy lifestyle behind for good.  

It's a pretty straightforward film, with not too surprising plot developments. A once successful music artists, trying to make a comeback but failing drastically, until someone enters his life and changes it for the better. Director Scott Cooper didn’t take any risks here. “Crazy Heart” is one of those films where the performance of the lead actor is better and more memorable as the film itself. Jeff Bridges, who won an Academy Awards for his performance, is excellent. He shines in every scene he is in. This is what you will remember about “Crazy Heart”, the story is quite forgettable.

Which doesn’t mean it’s not good. Bridges is the one who makes it better, if not for him, this would be a straight-to-DVD type of film. Because they story is predictable and very cliché. But Bridges lifts it to a whole other level and makes it worth watching. And somehow, Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal work really well together too.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

00s Movie Review - Mona Lisa Smile

Director: Mike Newell
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 117 minutes
Year: 2003
Starring: Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julia Stiles, Dominic West, Ginnifer Goodwin, Marcia Gay Harden, John Slattery, Topher Grace

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 46: A MOVIE ABOUT A CLUB
 
Description: A free-thinking art professor (Julia Roberts) teaches conservative 1950s Wellesly girls to question their traditional social roles.

Review: A progressive teacher encourages female students to get more out of life than just getting married. Set in the 1950s, where at the very conservative Wellesley college for women, art teacher Katherine Ann Watson starts her job. Katherine deviates from all the strict rules.

“Mona Lisa Smile” has a lot to it. Besides the attempts you see Katherine making to make her students think, you see their lives of these students, as well as Katherine’s.

The central issue of choosing a career is not presented in a one-sided wat. Although Katherine’s opinion prevails positively throughout the film, “Mona Lisa Smile” also gives space to other ideas on relationships, work and ambitions as a woman.

The cast is great. Julia Roberts, as Katherine, is really good. Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Ginnifer Goodwin are among the students and all these women have a different idea about life, love and ambition. This movie is carried by women.

“Mona Lisa Smile” is a beautiful film about that was a women’s life goal and what was expected of women in the 1950s. A film about thinking differently, about life choices and about love.

Rating: 5/ 5

00s Movie Review - Monster House

Director: Gil Kenan
Genre: Comedy/ Animation/ Advenure/ Family
Runtime: 91 minutes
Year: 2006
Starring: Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Spencer Locke, Steve Buscemi, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Kevin James, Jason Lee, Kathleen Turner, Jon Heder

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 CHALLENGE
WEEK 38: A MOVIE STARRING A CHILD
 
Description: Three kids discover that their neighbor’s house is really a living, breathing, scary monster.

Review: Right across the street of young DJ’s house, is the old, run-down house of Mr. Nebbercracker. Nebbercracker is a grumpy man who always takes kids toys that end up on his lawn, never to return them to the owner. The night before Halloween, he and his friend Chowder play basketball and the ball ends up on Nebbercracker’s lawn. As usual, he takes it from them, but this time Nebbercracker collapses and ends up being taken away with an ambulance. But even without Nebbercracker being home, the house doesn’t seem empty. Or is it the house that’s alive?

“Monster House” uses the performance capture technique, just like “The Polar Express” did. There the character looked very realistic. In “Monster House” not so much. But nevertheless, it’s a very enjoyable film to watch, for the entire family during spooky season. It’s somehow a family-friendly take on the haunted house trope.

Rating: 3/ 5

20s Movie Review - The Lost Daughter

Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ed Harris

Description: A women’s (Olivia Colman) beach vacation takes a dark turn when she begins to confront the troubles of her past.

Review: At the last minute of 2021, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal comes to Netflix with her directorial debut “The Lost Daughter”. An intelligent film about motherhood and responsibilities. It’s a remarkably nuanced film whose provocative message will stay with you for days to come.
Leda is enjoying some time off on a Greek island. While on the beach, she is relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet. Her oasis of calm changes when an American family, with screaming children, noisily takes over the beach.
When she meets a young woman called Nina and her daughter Elena, it brings back painful, unprocessed memories for Leda. Memories of Leda’s own time as a mother of two young daughters, Bianca and Martha. In flashbacks sprinkled throughout the film, we see a young Leda combining her work and studies with motherhood and demanding relationship. And those worlds collide more often than not.
Olivia Colman once again puts in a masterful actin performance. But Jessie Buckley’s portrayal of the younger version of Leda also deserves high praise. Seamlessly, the two seem like the same person with a twenty year age difference.  
The title “The Lost Daughter” suggest that a child disappears and the film becomes a quest to find the girl. This is true, but it’s only a small part of the film. The incident is a clever diversion for the film’s real protagonists: atypical mothers. Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut does not unfold as a mystery detective thriller at all. “The Lost Daughter” is a character study of women struggling with motherhood and the expectations and responsibilities that come with it. Women who must choose for themselves. As selfish as that may seem, it is far from incomprehensible.
Leda is also, to a certain extent, not a sympathetic character at all. Not everyone is made for motherhood, and children can be an oppressive responsibility. Leda describes herself throughout the film as an unnatural mother. Her façade of difference and self-reliance makes Leda a complex character whose unpredictable behavior keeps her constantly intrigued. In young mother Nina, with her always crying daughter, she finds recognition. A recognition she has hidden away to avoid having to face her life decisions.
“The Lost Daughter” is a unique film because the self-evident maternal instinct is turned on it head. The film is somewhat uncomfortable to watch, because Leda is such a complex character and she is very clear about her boundaries, and the situations she is put in (or often puts herself in) can be very uncomfortable to witness. For her directorial debut, Maggie Gyllenhaal has passed with flying colors. It’s a very interesting watch.  

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 26: Adaptation

Director: Spike Jonze
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 115 minutes
Year: 2003
Starring: Meryl Streep, Nicolas Cage, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton, Brian Cox, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ron Livingston, Judy Greer, Jim Beaver, Stephen Tobolowski

Description: A lovelorn screenwriter (Nicolas Cage) becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep) for the screen.

Review: Charlie Kaufman is a screenwriter and is in the middle of a crisis. He doesn’t know what to base his next film on. He is a very shy man and thinks of themes that have depth, but can’t be made exciting. His twin brother Donald is exactly the opposite. He is a beginning screenwriter and thinks of horrible cliché scripts. He is not shy at all and very extravert.
Charlie reaches his absolute low point when Donald’s script is picked up and he has no inspiration himself. He is about to write a screenplay for a book written by Susan Orlean.
Nicolas Cage is really good in this film. He plays both Charlie and Donald and even though they look the same, it’s easy to keep them apart. That’s because of Cage’s performance. I love the dialogue that Charlie constantly has with himself.
I loved the first part of the film. The second part an particularly the ending didn’t really satisfy me. Overall the film is very original and is nothing like you expect when you read the plot. The ending I just didn’t like.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 53: Secretary

Director: Steven Shainberg
Genre: Drama/ Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 104 minutes
Year: 2002
Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Spader, Jeremy Davies, Lesly Ann Warren

Description: A young woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal), recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer (James Spader), where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.

Review: Lee Holloway has just been released from a mental hospital. She was depressed and because of her home situation she mutilated herself. Once Lee is back home, she decides to find a job. She is hired as a secretary at a lawyer’s office. Her boss E. Edward Grey is not your typical, standard boss. The man is shy, clumbsy when it comes to communication, but has tons of charisma. Lee sees a certain attraction in Grey. Lee finds out that when she makes mistakes, Grey ‘punishes’ her. And she likes being submissive.
“Secretary” is a movie that can not be compaired to any other film. It has so many elements. The story and its execution are very original. It’s all kind of absurd and none of the characters is really normal. Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays leading character Lee, is a shy woman who discovers herself and her new obsession.
Although the theme is pretty controversial, the movie is somewhat mild when it comes to this theme. Some spanking here and there. And although Grey and Lee are both weird characters, they interest you and you feel for them.
“Secretary” is a film I didn’t have high expectations for, but it really surprised me and I actually loved it. Absurd characters, subtle humor. Not a film for everyone, but definitely worth watching.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 34: Frank

Director: Lenny Abrahamson

Genre: Drama/ Comedy

Runtime: 95 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy, Francois, Civil, Carla Azar, Shane O’Brien, Moira Broker, Paul Butterworth, Phil Kingston, Chris McHalem, Hayley Derryberry, Lauren Poole

Description: Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), a young wanna-be musician, discovers he's bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank (Michael Fassbender).

Review: “Frank” is a fictional story loosely based on the alter ego of the cult band and comedy legend Chris Sievey, who transformed into Frank Sidebottom when wearing a giant fake head. In this film Michael Fassbender is the one wearing the head and “Frank” is a hidden gem.

In “Frank” musician Jon accidentally meets an unconventional alternative band. Because of an incident the band is looking for a keyboard player and Jon happens to play it. The lead singer of the band is Frank who, despite of wearing a big fake head hiding his face, is extremely charismatic. When Jon joins them in a remote lodge to record a new album, the situation becomes stranger and stranger.

The movie deals with one important question: what is success and how do you define it? It is different for everyone. Jon’s big dream is to break through as a musician and to reach fame with a big audience. He is looking for appreciation and doesn’t only want compliments from people like Frank. Frank, but mostly the band, doesn’t care about what the crowd thinks. Creativity can’t be taught, you either have talent or you don’t.

Michael Fassbender is great as Frank. With or without the head he gives away a fantastic performance. You feel his enthusiasm and love, but also his powerlessness, panic and pain. Maggie Gyllenhaal, as Clara, also does a good job. She is closest to Frank and hates everything mainstream. Casting Domhnall Gleeson was also a good thing. He doesn’t fit in the group at all. Even though he seems like an average man to us, he is the odd one in the group. He represents how we would probably feel in a group like Frank’s.

Music is off course a big part of “Frank” and the soundtrack is really strong. If you don’t like alternative, experimental and vague music, you might think otherwise. The film has a beautiful and touching ending and you will leave this film satisfied.

“Frank” is a quirky film about self-expression, love for music and friendship. I loved it!

Rating: 4,5/ 5