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Jeffrey Sanzel

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Kyle Allen and Kathryn Newton in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

The premise of a time loop has long been a staple of science fiction novels and movies. The most notable example is the 1993 fantasy Groundhog Day, in which a narcissistic television reporter (Bill Murray) is trapped in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where he repeats February 2. Rightfully, it has become a classic comedy, relying on Murray’s performance of edge-to-awakening and a first-rate script by director Harold Ramis, collaborating with Danny Rubin. 

Based on the Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill, the less memorable Edge of Tomorrow (2014; marketed appropriately as Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow on home media) utilized a similar structure. Here, Tom Cruise is a military officer learning how to defeat alien invaders. 

Both Groundhog Day and Edge of Tomorrow are referenced in The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, a light comedy-drama, with Lev Grossman’s screenplay, based on his well-crafted short story. 

The film follows high school senior Mark (Kyle Allen) already well into his live-repeat of a summer day in Lexington, Massachusetts. His day follows the same sequence of waking up just after his mother pulls away from the house and continues with his interaction with his sister (Cleo Fraser) and slightly lost father (Josh Hamilton). 

The breakfast scene shows Mark anticipating everything from the popping of the toaster to speaking simultaneously with his sister as she snidely calls him a loser to his knowing all of the answers to his father’s crossword puzzle. Mark then wanders the town, slightly shifting a range of moments in the world but not growing much from his experiences. His isolation has the feel of the last man on earth. No matter what he tries, every day resets at midnight, as if he is snatched by “some cosmic nanny.”

Mark’s universe shifts with the introduction of Margaret (Kathryn Newton), whom he encounters at the local pool. Quickly, she admits to being locked in the same pattern. What ensues is his pursuit of this mystery figure and their burgeoning friendship. Beginning with Margaret sharing with him an eagle swooping over a lake and capturing a fish, they embark on a quest to search out “tiny perfect” moments. The map they create of these events becomes pivotal in the resolution. 

Once they commit to the undertaking, there is a montage — a perfectly executed ride by a skate rat; angel wings on a truck lining up perfectly with a man sitting on a bench; an older woman’s victory dance after a perfect hand of cards; a girl creating an enormous soap bubble; a traffic stop to allow a turtle to cross the road; a cloud in the shape of a question mark. While this is happening, Margaret takes the odd phone call and rushes off without an explanation. 

They have a date “on the moon,” which culminates with a bicycle ride through the school hallways. (The score indicates much of the film’s emotion, either smart or a cheat, depending on which way you look at it.) The closer they become, the more she pulls away. This conflict is the heart of the story, which resolves near the end. 

Tension rises between them as he falls for her. In turn, he wants their odd existence to mean something. She is inexplicably hesitant and pulls away. With this, he accepts that his problem is a lack of awareness of the struggle of the people around him; his downward spiral into loneliness sets him on a new and more positive course.

The film finds standard but entertaining ways to harness the gimmick. They give away money to random strangers. They stuff themselves with ice cream and junk food. A wonderful sequence is the near misses involving a beach ball and a girl at the pool. Another running joke shows Mark stopping a man (cameo by author Grossman) from being the victim of bird droppings. 

A major change from the short story’s first-person narrative is the introduction of Mark’s sidekick, the video game playing Henry (Jermaine Harris). As there is no voiceover, this gives Mark a chance to public his thoughts. While a facile solution, it works because of Harris’s command of Henry’s understated patter and dubious puzzlement over Mark’s strange musings. Henry being locked on the same level of the alien-themed video game adds another layer (and a nod towards Edge of Tomorrow and the overall thematic metaphor) to the story. 

For the most part, the film is a two-hander, relying on the charm of its leads. Allen has a bland, all-American charm that works for Mark. His realizations are believable, and his shift from passive to active drives the last third of the film. Newton manages not to overplay Margaret’s quirkiness. She is off-beat but grounded, with a playful veneer masking the pain underneath. She makes a line like “I’ll call you tomorrow … today … tomorrow,” both humorous and melancholy. They have good chemistry, which makes them sharing this existential problem convincing and saves the growing romance from becoming saccharine. 

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is a sweet if predictable diversion. The idea of fixing what we can and accepting what we cannot is certainly not an original concept. Nor is the idea that growth comes from facing challenges. But in its telling, the film is a pleasant if obvious look at how we move forward. 

Rated PG-13, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

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Gabriel Afolayan in the role of Kossi the Bear in a scene from the film. Photo from FilmOne

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

Released in 2019 and now available on Amazon Prime, Coming from Insanity is the true story of Kossi the Bear, the notorious currency counterfeiter. 

The film was much anticipated and is considered a major addition to the Nollywood film world. (The controversial term “Nollywood” was coined in the early 2000s, traced to several possible New York Times’ origins. While there are several meanings, it most specifically refers to the film-making activity in Lagos, Nigeria.)

In 1995, Kossi, age twelve, was trafficked from Togo to Lagos, a common fate for thousands of children. The majority of these victims became servants, with approximately one percent involved in criminal activity. Sold into domestic slavery by his parents, Kossi serves as a house boy for the Martins, whose treatment ranges from disinterestedly kind to emotionally brutal. The film quickly jumps fifteen years to his ejection from the house. The family gives him severance and a plane ticket back to Togo, where he knows no one and has no connections.

Instead of returning to his birthplace, he embarks on a career as a counterfeiter. His obsession with making money leads him to the actual concept of “making money.” He masters the ability to create almost undetectably realistic American one hundred dollar bills. He sets up shop in a well-appointed apartment with three ragtag assistants and begins to produce huge quantities of the faux cash. At the same time, they begin living the high life, with drinking and clubs and partying of all sorts. Eventually, they run afoul of both Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and a dangerous and violent band of illegal moneychangers.  

After the extended exposition, the simple plot kicks into high gear. The characters are fairly broad sketches, with the most depth reserved for Gabriel Afolayan’s Kossi, whose focus and genius contrast with immaturity and an almost painful innocence. Watching him try to find the right paper for printing the false bills is one of the stronger stretches in the film’s earlier parts. “Practice makes good,” he states. “Obsession makes perfect.” And yet, his limited life experience leads him into cavalier and, ultimately, deadly choices. His passion for Sonia, whom he calls Mama Bear, is more high school crush than an adult connection.

Most of the actors have been given one tonal quality, but they make the most of this. Udoka Oyeka’s Detective Toye is described as being brilliant but having a personal life on-the-rocks. The latter is only revealed through him occasionally drinking from a hip flask; it is more indicating than inherent. But he has an ease and clarity that reads strongly in his drive to bring down the counterfeiters. 

Adeolu Adefarasin is gentle and wise as an older house boy who comes along and is often the voice of logic and wisdom. Entering later in the film, Bolanle Ninalowo brings depth to the bouncer-turned-bodyguard Rocky. Sharon Ooja, as Sonia, the object of Kossi’s affection, manages to balance the mercenary with the kind. Odunlade Adekola has a brief but memorable scene as a loquaciously aggressive cab driver. As a whole, the cast does its best, but the film leans towards plot rather than character-centric.

Writer-editor Akinyemi Sebastian Akinropo makes his directorial debut with this feel which feels like a sketch for a more complicated and deeper exploration of the topic in some ways. 

While it has the feeling of a low-budget film and multiple plot holes must be overlooked, Akinropo has created an intriguing and entertaining crime thriller; he tells the story with sympathy and humor and a true sense of humanity. The gritty reality juxtaposed with some surprising and almost eccentric touches raise the film above the average. 

Coming from Insanity is a fascinating story told unevenly but with honesty and just enough originality to keep the viewer engaged. The film is rated PG-13.

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Above, the remnants of an Anglo-Saxon ship burial from the 6th century are unearthed in a scene from the film.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

Perhaps it is odd to explain a film as methodically heartfelt, but that best describes The Dig. Based on the 2007 novel by John Preston and the true story of the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo (outside of Woodbridge, in Suffolk, England), the film explores the personalities involved with the undertaking and the quest for the truth. It also addresses both the purist of and the validity of credit.

With a lifelong interest in archeology, widow Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) hires local Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to excavate the burial mounds on her estate. Brown, self-taught and self-effacing, first rejects the position because of the amount of money offered — the same small fee that the Ipswich Museum had paid him. It is less about small sums and more about the value that he sees in the work. She immediately relents, raising the salary by 12% to two pounds a week.

Carey Mulligan in a scene from The Dig.

What follows is a painstaking project that leads to an extraordinary discovery. Given Brown’s lack of formal education — he left school at twelve — his initial claims that the mounds are Anglo-Saxon and not Viking are easily dismissed. His uncovering proof of his supposition results in outside interest, first from the Ipswich Museum and then the British Museum. Throughout, Brown is praised for his work and then pushed aside. 

His true champion is Pretty, dealing with a heart-related illness and caring for her son, Robert (Archie Barnes). The young boy is fascinated by the dig but caught up in the skies above. He is obsessed with both the Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilots training nearby and a world of fantasy in the stars. 

Like the work they have undertaken, the film is focused but with a rich and rewarding purpose. Brown digs with shovel and pick and spade; he covers the area in tarps when it rains. He jots in his notebook. Pretty reads of archaeology in her library. Robert plays. It is a film of landscapes, sunrises and sunsets, and slow and purposeful work done with great care as the British nation prepares for war.

Soldiers gather on the roads as the planes become more frequent. The looming war drives an immediacy to finish, but the process and progress cannot be rushed. It is all measured, but it is grounded in the breathing of the world. 

One of the most interesting moments comes when a small shift in the soil buries Brown. His two helpers and the manor staff, along with Pretty, claw in the mud and dirt to get him out. It is a perfect synthesis of tension and cooperation as they resurrect him from a burial site.

A scene from ‘The Dig’

Once it is clear that the unearthed treasures are significant, the battle is over control of the site. Pretty is reluctant to turn it over and brings in her cousin, the untrained Rory Lomax (Johnny Flynn). Lomax’s introduction provides a sliver of romance to the story, as he becomes involved with Peggy Piggott (Lily James), the wife of archaeologist Stuart Piggott (Ben Chaplin). The Piggotts, both respected in their field, are caught in a repressed and possibly sexless marriage. It is a diversion from the main plot that only finds its strength when Lomax is called-up for service

The journey relies on a strong cast and Mike Eley’s lush cinematography. Stefan Gregory’s beautifully melancholy score elegantly punctuates the highs and lows. It soars appropriately but, for the most part, remains as a subtle heartbeat in the background of the action.

Mulligan is luminous is Mrs. Pretty. Both gentle and tightly wound, she bears her pain with great dignity, all for love for her son. Another actor would most likely fall into a maudlin caricature; Mulligan is real, sad, but not without humor. It is a delicate, thoughtful performance, an extraordinary contrast with her bolder, edgier, and dynamically impressive work in the recent Promising Young Woman. 

Fiennes is equally gentle, his simplicity masking a more enigmatic individual. At fifty-eight, there is no trace of his breakout performance as Amon Göth, the Nazi monster of Schindler’s List. His Brown is all softness, bringing deep honesty to a man frayed around the edges but whose center is strong. Mulligan and Fiennes don’t so much spark as join as a single flame. 

Johnny Flynn and Lily James in a scene from the film.

Lily James turns in a small, subtle performance. Unlike her vivacious Lady Rose of Downton Abbey or her energetic Cinderella, this is a delicate, introspective performance. She wears her pain and hope hidden behind large spectacles. 

Monica Dolan is strong as Brown’s supportive and shrewd wife. At first, she comes across as vague and disconnected, but she has a true understanding of who her husband is and, even more importantly, his potential. Flynn’s Lomax is likable but a bit of a cipher. As the British Museum’s Charles Phillips, Ken Stott skirts the blustery; he brings a touch of humanity and wonderment to the final breakthroughs. 

The Dig is not Howard Carter and the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. (And those looking for Brendan Fraser in The Mummy should seek elsewhere.) It is not grand discoveries that make headlines. Director Simon Stone and screenwriter Moira Buffini have worked seamlessly to tell an intimate story that shows how a small discovery can make a big difference, both to the individuals and the world. In the end, The Dig’s moral is not about who finds the answers but that the answers are found.   

Rated PG-13, The Dig is currently streaming on Netflix.

All photos courtesy of Netflix

 

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Carey Mulligan in a scene from the film. Photo from Focus Features

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

Writer-director-producer Emerald Fennel makes her feature film debut with the bold and disturbing Promising Young Woman, currently streaming on Amazon. This hybrid of a revenge thriller, psychological drama, and black comedy is one of the most relentless and riveting films of the past year.

Cassandra Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is a friendless thirty-year-old who hates her job and, seemingly, everything in her life. She lives with her parents (Jennifer Coolidge and Clancy Brown) in a home that seems never to have moved on from her adolescence.  Having dropped out of medical school seven years earlier, Cassandra has become the most reluctant and abrasive of baristas. She is absent in her own life to the point that she forgets her thirtieth birthday, revealed in a strangely hilarious and disturbing scene with her parents. Their gift is a suitcase, a less than subtle signal that they want Cassandra to move on or, at least, out.

Unbeknownst to her parents, Cassandra goes to clubs and bars, pretending to be drunk and allowing herself to be taken home by random men. As they are trying to taking advantage of her, she soberly confronts them with their behavior. She keeps track of them in a notebook hidden under her childhood bed.

Cassandra’s life derailed after the rape of her friend Nina by a fellow medical school student, Al Monroe (Chris Lowell). Nina and Cassandra had been friends from childhood, both the “promising young woman” of the title. Nina was both top of her class and a “party girl.” Her claims against Monroe were dismissed both by the other students, including friend Madison (Alison Brie), and the college itself. The case never came to trial due to the machinations of a vicious lawyer. While it is never specifically stated, Nina committed suicide shortly after the incident.

Things shift when a former classmate, Ryan (Bo Burnham), happens into the coffee shop. Now a pediatric doctor, Ryan recognizes Cassandra from school and asks her out. Ryan remains connected to the soon-to-be married Al. Cassandra is awakened to the possibility of real revenge and begins to set things in motion.

At the same time, she realizes that she is developing feelings for Ryan. After a chance encounter and a complication, what ensues is a rom-com with all common elements, including a montage set to a Paris Hilton song, and an uncomfortable meet-the-parents dinner. It is a clever diversion that skillfully boomerangs with the surfacing of a video of the rape. This change in course drives the remainder of the film.

Promising Young Woman is an intentionally messy film. Everything is skewed, from its saturated bright blues and cotton candy pinks to the soundtrack that provides startling commentary. The use of The King & I ballad “Something Wonderful” is hideously memorable. The constant off-centeredness makes for a tense, enthralling ride. The action is wound so tightly that the unraveling is all the more engaging, vacillating between deadly earnest and poisonously funny.

The film’s ensemble is first-rate. While most have only a single scene, there is a focus, detail, and reality in every performance. Coolidge and Brown hit just the right/wrong notes as the exasperated parents, a comic mix of disparity and depth. Gradually, they reveal that they are not as oblivious to their daughter’s struggle. Alison Brie’s Madison becomes the catalyst of a good deal of the later action. Brittle and self-absorbed, she is handily maneuvered during a drunken lunch, one of the ugliest and best-crafted scenes. 

As beau Ryan, Bo Burnham has that aw-shucks quality that masks hidden regrets and responsibilities. His genuine quality makes certain revelations all the more acute. Connie Britton is the dean who refused to validate Nina’s accusations; when the table is turned, Britton’s fears are palpable. Laverne Cox finds her usual easy charm as Cassandra’s boss. Molly Shannon has only the briefest appearance. As Nina’s mother, she tells Cassandra, “Move on, please … for all of us,” as she closes the door. (It is interesting to note that both Coolidge and Shannon are known for their broad comic portrayals; Fennel has drawn out beautifully understated performances.)

Alfred Molina plays Jordan Green, the perpetrator’s lawyer whose guilt over this case and many others like it has driven him to the edge. “On sabbatical” after a psychotic break, he is looking for redemption or at the very least forgiveness. It is an excruciating scene, both unique and resonant. 

But the heartbeat of the film is Mulligan. In her gifted hands, Cassandra is a spectrum of anger, hurt, and wry humor. It is a performance of unusual and awe-inspiring dimension. She finds the damage and the pride, never neglecting the smallest moments or details. She brings out the arch manipulator but does not neglect Cassandra’s underlying desire for some peace. Mulligan’s Cassandra is not so much a puzzle to be assembled but a shattered mirror:  even in its unlikely reconstruction, it is forever scarred and distorted.

Fennel skillfully keeps the violence off-camera until the last possible moment, never resorting to graphic imagery. Instead, the brutality lies in our imaginations. Fennel’s restraint heightens the moment when the visual savagery is unleashed.

Throughout the film, there are the horrifying refrains of “I did nothing wrong” and “boys will be boys” and “we were both drunk.” Fennel eviscerates the blame-the-victim culture. Promising Young Woman is a #MeToo treatise that never references the movement. Instead, it brilliantly tells its story with the darkest of humor and the cut of the sharpest scalpel.

Promising Young Woman is rated R for strong violence, language and drug use.

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Author Brian Muff visits the inspiration for his new book on a frosty Jan. 30. Photo by Heidi Sutton

By Jeffrey Sanzel

Brian Muff’s debut novel combines elements of horror with the everyday challenges of being a teenager. Set on Long Island, Lady of the Lake (Thewordverve Inc.) tells of a high school student’s rescue of her boyfriend from the clutches of an angry spirit.

Brian Muff

For the first time in her life, Miley Monroe is feeling good about herself. Having struggled with body image issues, she has managed to find a sense of self. She no longer has braces, her acne has cleared up, glasses have been traded for contact lenses, and, most importantly, she has found the perfect partner in the kind and handsome Braden. 

The novel begins with the couple swimming in Lake Ronkonkoma. In a surge of teenage love (and hormones), she loses her virginity. Following this aquatic tryst, they pay for the moral transgression in a traditionally leaning trope: Braden is dragged under the water by a demonic entity, the figure of a woman with red eyes and a “devilish grin.”

Miley awakens two weeks later having been in a coma. Her parents, and, in particular, her police chief father, believe she was raped by Braden, who has now disappeared to avoid pursuit and prosecution. Of course, her claim that Braden was carried away by a demon from the depths is met with expected incredulity. This is exacerbated by her parents’ dislike of Braden along with their conviction that he was a distraction and a negative force in her life. 

She returns to school where she faces anger on all sides. The students refuse to accept the rumors that her father has circulated about Braden’s assaulting her. There is an interesting Scarlet Letter element that overlaid on the traditional thriller plot. The student body — clearly “Team Braden”— turns against her.  The reaction is a complicated one that raises issues of victims, accusers, and perception. In the midst of this, Miley is emotionally damaged and retreating into herself. With no support, she is living in a place of grief and roiling anger. “Instead of saying ‘Woe’s me,’ Miley was now asking ‘Why me?’”

She unburdens herself to Quentin Maxwell, a geeky, awkward, but well-meaning intellectual. Quentin and his scientist father Quincy are both well-versed with the legend of the Lady of the Lake and believe in “things that go bump in the night.”

‘Lady of the Lake’

It began in 1665 with English settlers colonizing Long Island and interacting with Native American tribes who had been indigenous to the area for thousands of years. The lore swirls around the Ronkonkoma tribe that held the northern side of Lake Ronkonkoma, where Lake Shore Road is today. Quentin relates the ill-fated romance of Princess Tuscawonta and Englishman Hugh Birdsall. The illicit affair ended up with Birdsall’s murder and the Princess’s suicide in the lake where her spirit now seeks revenge by imprisoning hapless males who make the mistake of coming too close.

Miley joins forces with the Maxwells, who formulate a plan which goes incredibly wrong. From this point on, the action accelerates into a blend of body snatching and resurrection, morality versus mortality. There is also just enough of the hint of mad science: “Pandora’s Box transformed into a solved Rubik’s Cube, and the solution’s pathway was illuminated. The answer was all in the DNA.”

In addition to the looming supernatural stresses that are invading both her waking and sleeping existence, Muff gives an added dose of reality with Miley’s pregnancy that further strains her already tenuous home life. This shade of reality contrasts with the more fantastical actions.

Muff’s writing is uncluttered: it is brisk and succinct. He also provides enough detail to flesh out the characters, making Miley a dimensional and honest portrait. He strives to explore interpersonal family dynamics but never loses sight of the driving arc of the narrative. 

For all of the magic and myth, Lady of the Lake is ultimately not about vengeance but reconciliation. It is a tale of love, both for the Lady of the Lake and for Miley.

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A resident of Port Jefferson Station, author Brian Muff’s love of books began when he started reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn aloud to his parents at age five. Throughout his teenage years, Brian developed an interest in writing – specifically scary stories – that would continue to grow as he entered college. After graduating Farmingdale State College as valedictorian and obtaining an MBA from Stony Brook University, he put his career on hold to finish working on Lady of the Lake.

Pick up your copy at Book Revue in Huntington, thewordverve.com, Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.

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Helena Zengel and Tom Hanks star in the film adaptation of Paulette Jiles's 2016 novel. Photo by Bruce Talamon/Universal Pictures

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

Set in 1870, Paulette Jiles’s 2016 novel News of the World is the story of a ten-year-old girl released after four years in captivity. Kiowa raiders had murdered her family, and she had been taken hostage, with the girl raised as one of the tribe. A freedman, entrusted with the girls’ return to her family, turns her over to his acquaintance, seventy-one-year-old Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd. Thus begins Kidd’s journey of reuniting the girl with her only remaining relatives. 

The screenplay, by the film’s director Paul Greengrass, in collaboration with Luke Davies, follows the basic premise. However, in the film, Kidd comes upon an overturned cart. The freedman charged in taking the girl back is hanging from a tree, a victim of a lynching in the still roiling post-Civil War Texas. Kidd attempts to shelter the girl with an army comrade until the Bureau of Indian Affairs representative can deal with the situation. After this fails, he takes it upon himself to see the girl home.

Helena Zengel and Tom Hanks star in the film adaptation of Paulette Jiles’s 2016 novel.
Photo by Bruce Talamon/Universal Pictures

In the novel, Kidd was a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War. One of the major changes from page to screen is that Kidd is now a guilt-ridden veteran of the Civil War, plagued by what he had seen and what he had done. This shift gives immediacy to the story as well as lowering Kidd’s age to in his 60s. In both book and film, Kidd travels from town to town giving live readings from newspapers, working for nickels and dimes.

The drive of the film is the unlikely pair finding common ground and understanding. The girl, whose given name is Johanna, was given the Kiowa name Cicada. She speaks no English and is almost feral. Having been orphaned twice, she is appropriately wild and untrusting. Throughout their time together, Kidd and Johanna strive to communicate, and a growing understanding arises. Ambivalence gradually gives way to a deep bond.

The narrative becomes a series of encounters, each one bringing them closer together. When three ex-Confederate soldiers offer to buy the girl, it sends the action into high gear. It is a chilling moment.  (It would have been stronger had it not been present in every single promo for the film.) This horrific offer culminates with an extended shootout that is well-staged if a bit too long. What is revealed in this deadly encounter are the girl’s ingenuity and resourcefulness. 

There are further confrontations, including a radical band of militia working to “cleanse” the country from “outsiders.” In addition to keeping the tension high, it shows Kidd’s more liberal and healing view of the world. This element, along with a handful of other moments, are more than a nod towards current political divides.

Tom Hanks is one of American cinema’s most beloved actors. His name is a  guaranteed box office success and, most of the time, critical praise. His career is a roster of exceptional performances — Cast Away, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, and many others. His recent portrayal of Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood showed him at his best. Much like Jimmy Stewart, allowing Hanks’ persona to come through is what has made him an enduring star. It is the ability to see Hanks through whatever role he is playing that gives him uniqueness. Even as the child in a man’s body in the comedy Big, we were aware of Hanks, the actor, and embraced that awareness.

However, with Kidd, something more is required. As the damaged Confederate Civil War veteran, there is a sense of the dress-up about his performance. He is, as always, thoroughly engaging, but somehow it seems superficial. He is watchable but never quite transcendent. One must wonder if the producers, the director, and the writer didn’t just say “let Hanks be Hanks” and called it a day. 

Tom Hanks in a scene from the movie.

Part of the problem lies with the character itself. He is a struggling but inherently good man. He never once flinches from taking on the responsibility of returning this girl to her family. A more interesting choice would have been some vacillation or even resentment with the charge or that his primary interest had been fiscal rather than altruistic. This would have provided contrast and allowed for more arc and texture. Hanks is never less than very good, but he doesn’t achieve the level of greatness we have seen in so much of his work.

Helena Zengel, as Johanna, is remarkable. Both rough and insightful, willful and cowed, we watch her watch the world. With a tragic history, she is as wounded as Kidd. There is the spark of fire that never masks the deep pain. Greengrass has brought out a range of shades in her performance, enhancing a remarkable and burgeoning young talent.

Elizabeth Marvel is the hotel owner Mrs. Gannett who turns in a sensitive performance. She makes the most of her two brief scenes, reflecting both Kidd’s past and the world in which they live now. 

The rest of the cast is not given a great deal to play. As Almay, who attempts to purchase the girl, Michael Angelo Covino represents pure evil. Likewise, Thomas Francis Murphy’s racist Mr. Farley makes a clear statement. Both do well in what are one-note roles.

In many ways, News of the World is a traditional western with all the standard expectations. It is episodic, stringing scene after scene, event after event. It is entertaining, but the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts. The journey is predictable, leading to a conclusion that mostly satisfies the need for a happy ending.

Rated PG-13, News of the World is now streaming on demand

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Photo courtesy of Hulu

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

One of the most fascinating public figures of recent years is Greta Thunberg, the Swedish environmental activist. At the age of fifteen, Thunberg began a solo protest of climate change by sitting outside of Swedish Parliament. Beginning in August of 2018, she spent the days she should be in school with a sign reading “School strike for climate.” 

Thunberg’s quest to bring attention to climate change has sparked a worldwide movement, bringing both support and harsh criticism to her and her cause. The documentary I Am Greta tells this story. Director Nathan Grossman followed Thunberg from her early protests in 2018 to her testimony at the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis the following year. Whether Grossman was prescient or just lucky is hard to judge.

The film chronicles Thunberg’s rise in fame: from people on Stockholm streets questioning why she wasn’t in school to meeting European heads of state. Furthermore, it touches on how she became a target of derision from deniers across the globe. At the heart of Thunberg’s message is her belief that the adults of the world have failed to stop what is the most dangerous and most immediate threat to the future. She calls out this failure to act: “Adults always say one thing and then do something completely different.” She has no hesitation in citing hypocrisy

Presented early in the film is Thunberg’s Asperger’s, a syndrome that places her on the autism spectrum. She has not seen this as restrictive. “Sometimes, it seems that we who have Asperger’s —autism — are the only ones who see through the noise.” She believes that this condition has allowed her the ability to give climate change her complete focus. When asked by a reporter if she suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, she replies, “I wouldn’t say I suffer from … but I have it.” Further, she states: “I don’t see the world in black and white. It’s just the climate issue I see in black and white. “Sometimes I feel that it might be good if everyone had a tiny bit of Asperger’s … at least when it comes to climate.”

Thunberg’s obsession with what she considers “the defining issue of our time” began when she was eight years old. The showing of a film in school on the topic sent her into a deep depression. She stopped eating and suffered from selective mutism. Until that point, her family led a “high consuming” life, as demonstrated in a handful of home movie clips. Thunberg explains her insistence that her family converted to lives that were simpler and environmentally friendly: no flying, using an electric car, giving up meat and dairy, etc. 

The film is a wealth of footage of her crusade across the world. Starting with the passing out of flyers in Stockholm to her speaking to 30,000 people at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Poland to a string of engagements throughout Europe, she continues to spread her message. Thousands of students have taken up her #FridaysForFuture. 

Throughout, Thunberg confronts leaders for going forward with the same bad ideas to remain popular; she makes clear that popularity is not her concern. This view has made her a lightning rod for petty politicians who dismiss her as “mentally ill.”

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the film is the title: I Am Greta. It would have been better titled Greta’s Journey or Greta Thunberg, Activist. There are no interviews with people who know her or have worked alongside her. There are glimpses of who she is but many of these moments have a disingenuous feel. There is a good deal of footage of day-to-day life with voiceovers — in class, in the car, in the lunchroom — but nothing that adds up to a better understanding of her as a person. There are a few moments of her dancing that seem inorganic. Thunberg’s struggle to finish writing a speech and her father arguing with her to stop feels strangely staged. And yet, perhaps it is this absence of personal details that gives a stronger sense of her preoccupation.

In a revelatory moment, she says, “I don’t like making small talk … socializing with people …” which can explain the stretches of silence and the lack of her interaction beyond the driving passion. She indicates that she grew up with other children being unkind; she was not invited to parties and was always left out. She spent most of her time being with her family and her dogs. Her father is the most present in the film, with her mother appearing briefly and her sister not at all.

One of the joys is her spontaneous laughter that pops up in unexpected moments. In particular, this is Thunberg’s response to those attacking her on social media; her ability to see their smallness and inconsequentiality are telling. She laughs hysterically in reaction to a photo of herself with Pope Francis. Another personal moment is her mother teaching her to bake. Again, the laughter indicates this is a genuine event.

The climax of the film is her address to the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis on September 18, 2019. Since she refused to fly, she took a harrowing fifteen-day journey in a sailboat from Plymouth, England, to New York harbor, where she was greeted by hundreds if not thousands of supporters.

Her eight-sentence statement to the committee — spoken in her nearly flawless English — is scathing and resonates in its directness. “How dare you?” The message is summed up with “You are failing us.”

“The world is waking up and change is coming whether you like it or not.” Thunberg has inspired the largest strike for climate in history — more than seven million people. And yet, the world is still not on track to meet the Paris Agreement. She still goes on strike every Friday. And hundreds of thousands still support her. “Once the climate crisis has gotten your attention, you can’t look away.” Ms. Thunberg has our attention. The rest is up to us.

I Am Greta is currently streaming on Hulu.

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Volunteers from Theatre Three gathered food and other assorted items for the Open Cupboard Food Pantry out of the Infant Jesus R.C. Church in Port Jefferson on Dec. 12. by Kyle Barr

By Kyle Barr

It might be the spirit of giving, or perhaps the lingering essense of Scrooge’s final transformation, but Theatre Three’s latest food drive of the year may have been their biggest one yet.

Even with Theatre Three having been effectively shut down because of COVID, its board members, staff and volunteers have continued to work to better the community. The group gathered food and other assorted items for the Open Cupboard Food Pantry out of the Infant Jesus R.C. Church in Port Jefferson Dec. 12. Their efforts stuffed the theater van plus a Toyota 4Runner with food a total of four times in just a few short hours. Well over 100 cars showed up, despite the rain, to offer the theater what they could.

For the holiday season, the group also hosted a toy drive, in which families from all over gave some pretty significant items.

“The toys, they were good quality toys — Star Wars, LEGOs, good stuff,” said Brian Hoerger, a board member and facilities manager for Theatre Three. Hoerger helped start the string of food drives this year after the beginning of the pandemic, when he and other community members donated 15 iPads to local hospitals. Those devices were desperately needed at the pandemic’s height, when patients needed them to communicate with family members no longer allowed inside hospital rooms. 

Though this is the sixth food drive held through Theatre Three, this latest effort ended the year with a bang.

“There was a lot of stuff today — we’re very happy,” said Theatre Three’s Executive Director Jeffrey Sanzel. “This was one of our most successful drives since the first one.”

The drive also gained over $900 in cash donations plus nearly $600 worth of gift cards. The day’s efforts were so successful that Hoerger held a second drive the following day for all the persons who could not come out on Saturday. The Theatre Three facility manager used some of the cash funds to purchase additional food for Open Cupboard.

Updated: The group will host another food drive on Saturday, January 23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside Theatre Three. For more information, call 631-938-6464.

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Photo from Netflix

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

The world of cinephiles divides between those who think Citizen Kane is one of (if not the) most brilliant films ever made — and those who think it is over-rated. Hundreds of thousands of words have been written about the film, dissecting its structure, cinematography, symbolism, background, and place in moviemaking history. 

The American Experience produced the documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996). It chronicled the battle between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst over the creation and release of the film. It was followed in 1999 by the historical drama RKO 281, which covered the same material and starred Liev Schreiber as Welles, James Cromwell as Hearst, and John Malkovich as screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz.

Netflix now offers David Fincher’s Mank. Fincher, best known for thrillers (Seven, Panic Room, Alien 3, Fight Club), has directed his late father Jack Fincher’s fascinating screenplay, less exploring Citizen Kane but instead focusing on the man behind the screenplay, Herman Mankiewicz. This is a piece of high style, evoking the noirish films of the 1940s; in essence, it tells the story in the way in which Welles himself would have. 

The film alternates between 1940 when Welles is eagerly waiting for Mankiewicz to finish the screenplay, and the early 1930’s where Mankiewicz is struggling to find a foothold. The screenplay, which would become Citizen Kane, is a thinly veiled and vicious take on the life of newspaper mogul Hearst and his relationship with his lover, Marion Davies. Mankiewicz is to receive a large fee for the screenplay but no credit. Laid up with a broken leg, he embarks on meeting Welles’ deadline.

Those looking for an account of the making of Citizen Kane should look elsewhere. Mank is instead an exploration of Hollywood, specifically the politics of show business and show business’ involvement in politics. A good deal focuses on the California gubernatorial election of 1934 and how the Republican MGM hierarchy ran a smear campaign against left-wing author Upton Sinclair.

Presented is a Hollywood of hedonism and an old boys’ network, of backroom deals, demanded loyalty, and the unchecked intersections of film, power, and money. In the midst of this is Mankiewicz who is battling his demons, both in his career and with his alcoholism. It is a story in which the protagonist is Quixote and Cervantes, an intriguing and demanding drama that requires full attention.

If the definition of being a great actor is to lose oneself in the role to the point of being unrecognizable, then there is no finer actor than Gary Oldman. He is a true chameleon. It is hard to measure his performances against each other because no two are alike in any way. His Mankiewicz is unique: charming, insightful, dissipated, conflicted, and inscrutable. It is one of the best performances of 2020.

Amanda Seyfried brings charisma and depth to Marion Davies, in contrast with Citizen Kane’s Suzanne Alexander Kane, a spoiled and unaware gold digger; Seyfried’s Davies has a core of honesty and a surprising self-awareness. Arliss Howard is effective as the volatile studio head Louis B. Mayer, a monster manipulator with no conscience. Charles Dance finds shades in his portrayal of Hearst that humanizes the character but in no way detract from the man’s ability to destroy. Tom Burke’s Orson Welles hovers around the periphery, more seen than heard (which is a good thing as he has successfully recreated Welles’ voice as his resemblance is only passing). Sam Troughton makes for a fussy John Houseman, sent by Welles to watch over Mankiewicz. Tuppence Middleton finds warmth and intelligence in Sara, Mankiewicz’s tolerant wife, as does Lily Collins as Rita Alexander, the willful secretary who assists him. The film is populated with cameos of icons of the era (Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Ben Hecht, George S. Kaufman, etc.) that enhance the epic feel.

The film is shot in rich black-and-white; Erik Messerschmidt’s cinematography deserves high praise. Equally credited should be Kirk Baxter’s spot-on editing. Donald Graham Burt’s production design complements the art direction of Chris Craine and Dan Webster. Trish Summerville’s hundreds of costumes perfectly reflect the era. 

Fincher’s collaboration with these artists has resulted in a vision of the darker Hollywood of another era. Mank is not so much a film about a film. It is instead a thoughtful portrait of the construction of art in the face of warring forces. 

In the end, Mankiewicz (who did not attend the ceremony) receives the Academy Award for Best Screenplay. Mankiewicz’s career would never reach another high of this proportion, and he would die thirteen years later from complications due to alcoholism, a genius dead at the age of fifty-five. This tacit and disturbing ending is an appropriate coda to an introspective and absorbing film.

Rated R, Mank is currently streaming on Netflix.

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COVID-19 made it impossible for the traditional Run to the Port Jeff Brewing Company happen in 2020, but the Brewery and the Greater Long Island Running Club [GLIRC] banded together to stage a “virtual” 15K, 10K, and 5K that raised $1000 for the 2020 charitable beneficiary Theatre Three in downtown Port Jefferson.

A check for $1000 was presented to Theatre Three at the Brewing Company on Dec. 18.

Theatre Three is a not-for-profit dedicated to developing an appreciation for the art of live theater among the residents of Long Island. The theater presents a diverse program of fresh and imaginative revivals of classics and modern plays and is an arena for previously unproduced plays, and works towards their future development. Theatre Three provides an environment in which talent can be nurtured, encouraged, and trained in the pursuit of a professional career. 

During the pandemic, there have been no live performances at Theatre Three, so the Brewery and GLIRC were happy to be able to help the theatre stay afloat in these troubled times.

Pictured at the presentation, from left, is GLIRC Race Director Ric DiVeglio; Theatre Three Board of Directors member Brian Hoerger; Theatre Three Managing Director Vivian Koutrakos; Theatre Three Executive Artistic Director Jeffrey Sanzel; Port Jeff Brewing Company owner Mike Philbrick; and GLIRC Executive Director Sue Fitzpatrick.

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