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A Man Called Otto directed by Marc Forster is an uplifting story of hope and renewal of life. Tom Hanks plays Otto, a rather grouchy man, who is ready to leave everything behind after losing his wife. With many failed attempts at taking his own life, there feels like a reason he is still here.
The movie is touching and we see over the course of the movie how his connection with other neighbours change his life as well as theirs in subtle yet profound ways. Otto is not a man to sugar coat anything, he’ll tell you straight up like it is, whether you want to listen to his ramblings or not. His blunt honesty is not always welcome, but in every situation, when Otto is confronted with doing the right thing, he does.
Another highlight is the blooming friendship with new neighbour, Marisol, played by Mariana Treviño, who sees the genuine heart underneath all the grumpiness. She’s a wonderful character in the movie and brings out all the joy that Otto has buried down deep inside and shows him there is still so much beauty in life that his wife would not want him to miss out on.
I am hoping to see the Swedish film release, A Man Called Ove.
The Whale directed by Darren Aronofsky is a heartbreaking story to watch because we have all known someone in our lives that no matter what we do, we cannot reach them. Maybe they are struggling with addiction, mental health, or something that they still cannot even come to terms with. Feeling an obligation to help the broken, can also sometimes break us. It’s hard to tread these waters and stay afloat.
As the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover, however, we mostly do, especially in extreme circumstances. Visually, we see Charlie (played by Brendan Fraser), a 600 lbs+ man, stuffing his face with fried chicken and we immediately think, hell, why can’t he just stop eating? He’s disgusting and made a choice, why have an ounce sympathy for him? Before critical judgement, let's pause. Touching on themes of grief, severe depression, hidden identity, isolation, estranged family, a broken healthcare system, and other crucial pieces of Charlie’s crumbling life, we can see that it’s far more than just about putting down the greasy drumsticks.
His best friend, Liz, played by Hong Chau, gives an incredible performance as well. We get to see the heartache she is battling from her own losses and her fierce loyalty to try and keep others from messing with Charlie’s psyche, specifically a missionary who wants to “save him.” Taking on the caregiver role of keeping Charlie alive (she is a nurse) despite his clear wishes of not getting any outside medical help, as all the money he has needs to be given to his daughter, sadly enables his behaviours. She is such a strong character though and it is true that in order to build resiliency, it comes with a lot of breakdowns.
As we watch Charlie further deteriorate, his desperation to reconnect with his daughter shows his vulnerability and in some ways selflessness of giving up everything to make sure she is happy in life. There are a lot of complex emotions to deal with. The final scene has a poetic closure and offers symbolic interpretations.
It’s never too late to say you’re sorry.
💜While receiving standing ovations at the premiere of The Whale, this movie has had its share of backlash too, which you may agree or disagree with. However, in my opinion, after being out of the spotlight for so long, Brendan Fraser's performance here still definitely deserved to be taking home Best Actor at the 2023 Oscars.
Missing is written and directed by Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick.
The motherly frustrations of dealing with teenage woes is not uncommon. Unanswered phone calls and text messages coupled with rebellious shenanigans with friends are par for the course, but to certain degrees.
So what happens when it is the parental figure who doesn’t answer their phone, and just disappears? We are taken on a wild technological ride when daughter, June (Storm Reid) takes it upon herself to go into virtual sleuth mode to find her mom Grace Allen, (Nia Long) who vanishes during a vacation in Colombia with her boyfriend, Kevin (Ken Leung).
The movie is full of excitement and offers a lot of thrilling moments, similar to the movie that I reviewed; Searching. However, what is termed as a "spiritual sequel", there is more complexity to the parental/teenage relationship, and the intensity really grows with more plot twists that shifts audience sympathies back and forth like a pendulum.
An interesting part of the movie is June hiring a local Columbian, Javi, played by Joaquim de Almeida to help her find evidence and locate her mom. His technology skills are not quite on par with June’s, . However, after getting the run-around from authorities, June is running out of options and as much as she strives to be independent, she needs a shoulder to lean on. In this case, it’s a virtual one that the director is able to translate into a lot of warmth on screen. We love Javi for being the ideal father-like figure that June wishes she still had in her life and the fact that Javi might not be disappearing from June’s life any time soon.
While technology has a way of sometimes pulling us apart, it is also a way to bring us back together. It brings me back to the days of Mr. Rogers when he said “always look for the helpers.”
We Have A Ghost, directed by Christopher Landon is a film that really was surprising to watch as there were so many things wrong with the movie, yet somehow it ended up being a favourite here to write about.
During the first half, we're seeing the Presley family move into a creepy, dilapidated home that probably no one would really realistically buy. Alas, they purchase the home, hoping to have a new start.
Jahi Di'Allo Winston as Kevin, plays the detached misunderstood teenager who we immediately expect will befriend the ghost - Ernest (played by David Harbour) found living up in the attic. Soon Ernest is captured on video, uploaded to Youtube by Kevin's father, and of course, it goes viral. The film spirals a bit out of control here adding in a wacky Jennifer Coolidge who plays a psychic, known as The West Bay Medium.
After a lot of comedic moments that honestly felt awkward and misplaced with another attempt of be relevant of current trends (cue needless Kardashian references) the story takes a very unexpected turn where we become so involved in Kevin and Ernest's friendship.
David is at his absolute best, giving us such an endearing physical performance without speaking throughout the film, (technically, he did in fact speak 1 word, but I will not spoil that). I became quite invested in the mystery as to why Ernest was stuck in the attic, as did my husband. I loved the interaction between Kevin and Ernest almost immediately. There ends up being so many deeper layers to the story, which I wish the tone of the movie went into sooner, instead of the comedic flops of chaos trailing on for so long.
I never thought that I'd shed tears for a ghost, but if there is any reason to give this movie a chance, it's for David Harbour's performance.
