At the Cinema - October 2016

Deepwater Horizon – 9

I was in no hurry to see this movie given the tepid reviews and the impact of the BP oil spill on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.   I was in for a surprise.
The special effects are harrowing and amazing.  I have no idea how the crew survived this oil rig disaster, much less how the actors survived the special effects.  The effects are the driver of this movie, make no mistake.

Kurt Russell is in Mark Wahlberg’s funky bunch for this effort, and they seem to capture the characters.  John Malkovich is the BP bad guy, and you expect him to spit fire.  I have no idea how true the story is preceding the oil spill, but the script pushes all the buttons in setting up the tension.  I learned a lot as the movie unfolded.  For a great companion piece, I’d suggest the pilot episode of HBO’s The Newsroom, which is my favorite TV episode of the last 5 years.  It takes place the day of the oil rig explosion too. 

 

Jack Reacher:  Never Go Back – 8
I’ll admit that I really enjoyed the first Jack Reacher movie and I usually enjoy Tom Cruise movies.  I know there will be a good script and good production.  I also know Tom has 3 rules – Tom gets a lot of close ups, Tom gets at least one running scene, and Tom gets to take his shirt off at least once.  But, once you get past those requirements, you’ll usually be entertained.  The Jack Reacher franchise is a modest one in comparison to many, but it’s no less compelling than most of the bloated ones we see.

Speaking of bloat, it must be said that those closeups of Tom’s face are beginning to reveal a normal person.  Hopefully there are some character roles coming and he ages into the next Gene Hackman or someone like that.

The story of this Jack Reacher has Jack hitching rides back to DC so he can meet the flirtatious lady that succeeded him at his Army post, played by Colby Smolders who can kick a little butt once Jack breaks her out of the brigg after a trumped up charge.  Soon they’re playing parent to a 15 year old and they’re off to New Orleans so they can get into an obligatory Mardi Gras parade chase, several fights, and some serious mystery solving.  The best parts of this two-movie series so far are the fights.  They just seem to be a step up from the standard action movie.  You be the judge.

The Accountant – 8

Christian Wolfe is a math savant.  He and his brother grow up with a military father who prepares them for being the outcasts they will be as adults.  Ben Affleck plays Wolfe who becomes an autistic accountant/assassin for major criminals.  His amazing accounting abilities are the really cool part.  With some all too brief support from Anna Kendrick, with whom Affleck has some real chemistry (but let’s face it – all her costars have great chemistry with her), Ben has to figure out who’s draining a Robotics company of cash.   But as you can guess, once he does, his life is in danger and he must use his physical skills.  Plenty of credible action, a lot of plot twists, and an original screenplay that’s quite original.  Good diversion in the current cinema violence style.

Scanning the Satellite:

Weiner – 10

This is playing on Showtime and I guess I could have found a more timely movie, but I don’t know how. 
This fantastically intimate documentary follows the ill-fated New York City mayoral campaign of the previously disgraced congressman who seems to want to play fool-me-twice with the electorate.  He comes across as a dedicated and vocal public servant who quite simply seems to have at least one screw loose, possibly two.  It wasn’t enough that he’d had to resign from Congress for his sexting proclivities but he actually resumed them while he was on his way to being the mayor of New York City.

Making this even more interesting is the up close look we get at Huma Abedin, Weiner’s (equally infamous to some) wife who has been a close advisor to Hillary Clinton for many years.  How does she come off?  Pretty well I thought; properly dignified, more than embarrassed, and worried about the child she will now raise.  That she would eventually separate from ironically-named Weiner seems obvious from the opening credits.  As the documentary draws to a close, the cameraman who has been usually silent finally asks the question, “why did you let us do this?”  Weiner has no answer.  I do.  Third screw loose.  Goodbye Anthony.  I’d recommend you say goodbye to Carlos Danger too.