10s Movie Review - Collateral Beauty

Director: David Frankel
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 97
Year: 2016
Starring: Will Smith, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Hellen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Naomi Harris, Michael Peña, Jacob Latimore, Ann Dowd

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2025 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 9: A FILM WITH EDWARD NORTON
 
Description: Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.

Review: For advertising man Howard, there are three main abstractions in life that he not only proclaims as a pep talk to his co-workers, but reveals themselves to himself after a tragic loss. He writes letters to each of them: love, time and death. And he gets answers.

It’s orchestrated by his best friends and co-workers, who can no longer watch how Howard is drowning in his grief. They hire three actors, to portray love, time and death. And talk to Howard about the letters he has written.

It’s a thoughtful act, but it feels like more of a way to save their company then to actually help their friend. There is so much misery to digest that cramming it into barely an hour and a half is impossible. Many scenes feel rushed and unfinished. And there is also this plot twist, that I kinda saw coming.

“Collateral Beauty” has an interesting premise and the film is filled with amazing, talented actors. Unfortunately, the film feels rushed and many characters are given background stories, but are left underdeveloped. Some of the actors are underused and didn’t really have much do to with their characters. Director David Frankel did so little with everything that he had and turned it into an over-sentimental forgettable drama.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

10s Movie Review - Concussion

Director: Peter Landesman
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Morse, Eddie Marsan, Hill Harper, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Stephen Moyer, Richard T. Jones, Paul Reiser, Luke Wilson

Description: In Pittsburgh, accomplished pathologist Dr. bennet Omalu (Will Smith) uncovers the truth about brain damage in football players who suffer repeated concussions in the course of normal play.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2021 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 30: A MOVIE RECOMMENDED BY A FRIEND
 
Review: Mike Webster was one of the best center players in the National Football League (NFL) in America. He played professional American Football for sixteen years, mostly for the Pittsburgh Steelers. After his career, he soon declined. He lives in a pickup truck and suffers from dizziness, forgetfulness and insomnia. Not surprisingly, he dies. A heart attack is soon the official reading. Nigerian forensic neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu is assigned to investigate Webster. He discovers that something is wrong with the brain, but can’t quite pinpoint what it is. When another former football player dies, Omalu notices the same brain abnormalities. Could there be something more going on with football players after all? Omalu tries to bring this to the attention of the NFL board, but his research is dismissed as nonsense. In fact, since then Omalu has only been thwarted in his investigation and even received death threats.
Jeanne Marie Laskas wrote the article Game Brain for the men’s magazine GC in 2009. In it, she describes the story of how Nigerian Dr. Bennet Omalu discover what effect the hard hits and collisions of American Football players have on their brains. And how Omalu is opposed by the entire NFL after this discovery. Peter Landesman is a director and writer, but also a journalist. He has written a number of articles on human and gun trafficking for New York Time Magazine, The New Yorker and other leading magazines. His first feature film, “Parkland”, dealt with the aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He made the follow-up “Concussion” in response to Jeanne Marie Laskas’ article. His background as a journalist came in handy for the structured telling of the story surrounding Dr. Bennet Omalu and his investigations. A story that is structured according to fairly standard principles, but contains poignant moments. Its distressing that a large organization like the NFL considers entertainment interests more important than the health of its players. Somehow it’s understandable, because the stakes are high. The NFL desperately needs the players to keep the entertainment going. The chances that young people will stop playing American football when they hear that it can cause brain damage are high, so the sport will eventually cease to exist. Yet it is strange that people do not want to look for a solution, but continue to deny the danger Omalu points out.
As a sub-line in the story, there’s Omalu’s personal struggle to adapt to the American system as an immigrant. He wants to succeed at all costs in the promised land. But as a Nigerian, he has his own ideas and principles and they do not always correspond to what is expected in America. This leads to misunderstanding on both sides. Omalu is portrayed by Will Smith, who is very convincing, inspiring and strong in his role. Another actor I need to point out is David Morse. He only has a minor role at the start of the film, but he really leaves an impression.
“Concussion” doesn’t really color outside the lines. The film is made according to standard movie laws. But a film like “Spotlight” had already shown that you can still make an interesting film this way, because the content is so well done. “Concussion” can’t match that film, but is intriguing enough to keep you interested the entire runtime.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Review - Bad Boys For Life

Director: Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
Genre: Action/ Crime/ Comedy
Runtime: 124 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Joe Pantoliano, Theresa Randle

Description: Miami detectives Mike Lowry (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) must face off against a mother-and-son pair of drug lords who wreak wngeful havoc on their city.

Review: “Bad Boys For Life” opens like a “Bad Boys” film should. We are in for a wild ride.
The goal of the wild ride is not the heavily armed drug or mafia gang you might expect. No, twenty-five years after their first bravura piece, the young cops became experiences detectives. When Marcus’ hold his new-born grandson for the first time, he concludes it’s time to retire from the job. Mike is furious and refuses to take this ending seriously. Without a wife and family himself, running after criminals is more than work for Mike. It’s his life.
When Mike is shot by an escaped drug lord, Mike is determined to get him. And he needs Marcus right next to him to do so.
I think it’s a thing these days to create a sequel to a popular film, many years later. “Bad Boys For Life” is one of those films. And Will Smith surely hasn’t lost his touch yet. He is still fit enough and convincing enough to portray Mike Lowry. But time hasn’t been kind on Martin Lawrence and it shows. The interaction between the two is still strong though.
Is it a sequel we needed? No, not really. But it was very entertaining. Which is exactly what you need from a movie like “Bad Boys For Life”.

Rating: 3 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 112: Suicide Squad

Director: David Ayer
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Crime
Runtime: 123 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Cara Delevingne, Jai Courtney, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jay Hernandez, Adam Beach, Scott Eastwood, Ben Affleck

Description: A secret government agency recruits a group of imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency, which inevitably leads to chaos.

Review: DC Comics got a crazy follow up for “Batman V. Superman”, which was a big and epic film, but was way too long and didn’t meet our big expectations. “Suicide Squad” is a daring film with fun characters, but it’s a bit messy.
“Suicide Squad” is set right after the happenings in “Batman V. Superman”. Amanda Waller decides to fight fire with fire, in the crime filled world they live in now. She assembles a groups of criminals that are all messed up in their own way. She wants them to fight the evil in the world and finally do something good. If they don’t cooperate, they will be killed.
The start of the film is an introduction to the characters. That’s a big part of the opening, but the film is very fast paced and holds that tempo the entire film. But some of the members of the suicide squad get more attention than others. Especially Deadshot and Harley Quinn get more focus, but they are also the most interesting characters of the bunch. Both Will Smith and Margot Robbie do a fantastic job portraying them.
Jared Leto plays the Joker and he does it in his own way. His interpretation is okay, but he doesn’t succeed as well as Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger did with their performances of the same character. And the Joker isn’t in the film that much either. Cara Delevinge as Enchantress is just strange. I didn’t like her and her character never gets interesting. And I hated that weird voice she had.
The editing of the film is the biggest problem. It’s very messy and it sometimes looks like scenes were cut and it was all edited without giving it the proper attention.
“Suicide Squad” has enough entertainment and is very fast paced to keep my attention the entire runtime. Overall the film is messy, but Will Smith and Margot Robbie make up for a lot. It has action and humor, but it’s not DC’s big comeback.

Rating: 3,5/ 5