Wildlife (2018)

Jeanette tries to put a brave face on things when her husband Jerry loses his job soon after they've located to a new town. One gets the feeling that the family has moved a lot and that the reason for the moves is Jerry's pride. Soon Jeanette and Joe (their 14-year-old son) have jobs while Jerry's stubbornly refusing to accept his old job back or work someplace menial like a supermarket. Eventually Jerry does find low-paying work on a crew that will take him away from town for several weeks, leaving his family to cope without him.

It's such a quiet film that refuses to spell things out. Maybe Jeanette's ability to massage Joe's ego and keep things going fairly smoothly enabled him? Maybe without her husband around to constantly manage, she realized that she didn't ever want to go back to it? Maybe Jerry is able to eventually step up as a father and provider once there's no one to indulge his ennui? I don't know for sure and you probably won't either, but I'd be surprised if you don't wind up rooting for Joe to be OK like I was.

B-

Adam's Rib (1949)

Lawyer Adam Bonner is tapped to prosecute a woman who shot at her husband while he was in the arms of another woman. His wife, Amanda Bonner (also a lawyer), decides to defend the wife as she believes a man in the same situation -- fighting for his family -- would be lauded rather than maligned. Though they've got a solid marriage full of mutual respect, a contest of lawyerly skills in the courtroom is a strain.

Though the courtroom scenes are a lot of fun, the datedness of the material makes it so much of a time capsule that it's difficult to take it at face value. Case in point: the primary reason given for the husband's infidelity is that his wife got fat. Judy Holliday (left in this on-set picture) plays his wife. Also, talk about the wife getting regularly knocked-around by her cheating husband isn't even treated as a point against him. Yeesh.

B-

The Godfather Part II (1974)

We watched this directly after The Godfather and I do not recommend following our lead. Not only is it a LOT of time in front of a screen, but it makes this feel like a letdown rather than the extremely good film that it is.

The most riveting portions of this movie are Vito's origin story. After he's marked for death as a young boy in his small Sicilian town, he's sent to the states on his own. He's a quick-thinker with a strong sense of justice who eventually becomes known as the guy who can help. As a juxtaposition to that rich storyline, Michael's rise (or descent?) in the "now" feels dirty rather than triumphant. I was rooting for Vito and mourning for Michael -- I basically wanted to stay in the flashbacks.

In short: it's a decent follow-up to a magnificent film.

A-

The Godfather (1972)

I believe I first saw this in my 20s and, though I gave it an "A+" rating, all I had retained were a dozen or so visual memories (e.g. Michael dropping the gun as though it had burned him,  Sonny trapped at the toll booth, Kay's defeated face as a door shuts her out of the room). I was fully expecting to drop the rating upon rewatch, but found that I was just blown away -- probably even more impressed this time around than I was the first. There's simply nothing to fault here.

One of the most surprising discoveries is that it feels as though it could've been made this year. The storytelling and cinematography is timeless rather than dated. And, even at nearly 3 hours, I was never waiting out the clock. I was engaged and impressed for its entirety.

A+

The Sapphires (2013)

Gail, Cynthia, Kay and Julie sing together as young girls in a tight-knit aboriginal community. Though light-skinned Kay is “stolen” to be raised as white, the other three continue to sing together and eventually compete in a local talent contest. They’re the only black act in a very white venue so they, of course, cannot win the competition, but they kind of win anyway since the messy, soul-loving (and, for some reason, Irish) emcee sees their potential. 

There are some BIG subjects here: ever-present racism, the continuing legacy of Australia's "Stolen Generation," and the horrors of war.  But, damn - they're stuck inside an inept script with amateur actors. My interest in the real story is strong, but I know this isn't it, mainly because I was compelled to do some reading after viewing. My main complaints are 1) the invention of Chris O'Dowd's character: why is a white savior necessary and why, exactly, must he be such a mess? 2) the romantic subplots, especially the one between Gail and David, which felt both gross and out-of-nowhere. Also, why did they write him as already married? Is this supposed to be feel-good or feel-sick?

Anyway. Despite my strong ick reaction to this movie, I think that -- in someone else's hands -- this could've been a fantastic family film if the romance had been excised. It felt cheap and distracted from the actual big topics.

C-