At the Cinema - September 2016

Suicide Squad – 8

I’m on record as not being a big fan of the Marvel Universe.  I knew this movie was a long awaited fan-boy picture that was clobbered by the critics and loved by the loyalists, and with an afternoon to kill, I thought I’d give it a try. 

I have to give them credit.  Although confused about the cross-characters (there’s Ben Affleck as Batman, and apparently Superman is dead (???)) and is this an XMan movie or what, I’m just not sure who all those people are and are these superpowers or what?  I have so many questions.

So despite my confusion, the movie is so inventive and well done, with the characters so interesting, and the action so over the top, that I hate to admit it, but I was fascinated.  Will Smith and Margot Robbie are the stars, and their magnetism is evident.  Unless I am totally misjudging this, Robbie's Harley  Quinn is a character we are destined to see a lot in future movies.  Then there’s Jared Leto as The Joker, although I’m not sure what the Joker is doing in the movie.  Isn’t he in Gotham?  Guess you just have to go with it.  Anyway, it’s fun and a lot better than those Avengers movies.

SouthSide with You – 8

This is the story of Barack 0bama’s first date, a day-long one, with future wife Michelle.  It will be no surprise to tell you that it was the first private showing we’ve ever had in our local theater.  We were alone.  It’s a mild, enjoyable story that provides some insight into Obama’s formative years as a community organizer.  The charisma is there, and his ability to rally and persuade is evident.  I have no idea how this movie got made, but it’s interesting and witty enough to make it worth the two hour investment.

Sully – 5
I’m being generous and giving this movie a five.  Let me put it this way, the action is a 10 and the surrounding trumped up drama is a zero. 

This is the story of Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the US Air pilot who landed his plane with 155 “souls” safely and miraculously on the Hudson river in January of 2009 without losing a single life.  That was an incredible feat, and Director Clint Eastwood dutifully reenacts the “water landing” not once but twice, because he’s got a whole movie to fill, and the film peaks with the incredible footage.  The crash and rescue are terrific, pulse pounding stuff. 

The rest of the movie is borderline terrible.  Particularly horrible is the worst written part in recent movie history, the suffering wife of Sully, played by Laura Linney.  She deserves an Oscar for even trying to bring something to this part.  The dialogue between them is as painful and unrealistic as any I’ve ever seen.  It’s excruciating to watch, and laughable.  Yes, I laughed out loud.  Sorry, Laura. 

The great American actor Tom Hanks is fine as Sully, who is as dull as he is heroic.  The trumped up drama about whether he and his co-pilot could have done things differently during the 208 seconds they were airborne is grasping at drama that we already know gets resolved – if it ever existed. 

The movie clocks in at around 90 minutes and it seemed bloated at that.  Heroic as a story, but mediocre as a movie.

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn