Spirited

 

Score:  A

Directed by Sean Anders

Starring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer

Running time: 127 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Funny guys Ferrell and Reynolds team up in one of the starriest Christmas movies in years, a new Christmas Carol adaptation.  It's a shame this was not produced as a wide theatrical release (I got lucky it was in my local theater), as it's a great cinematic experience.  The stars are on their game and, with a wildly creative script behind them, everything falls into place.  Highly recommended, even if (*sigh*) you have to stream it.

Not content with their work on Mr. Scrooge, Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet-To-Come are still at work in the world, helping one "perp" at a time.  Christmas Present (Ferrell), who has worked well past retirement age, finds one last perp, named Clint (Reynolds), he wants to turn around, despite Marley's objections.  Clint soon turns out to be one of the most challenging cases yet, though, and the annual pattern of redemption soon falls apart.  The spirit world and the living world begin to intertwine, and more is changed than just one rotten soul.

Spirited is an excellent new holiday movie, its acting, humor, creativity, and themes coming together for one of the more truly magical experiences to come along in years.  The story is, of course, a variation on A Christmas Carol - but only the broadest elements (the Ghosts, tale of redemption) remain alongside a fresh, modernized plot.  Some adaptations/reboots just make a mess of things when they try to do that, but the creativity of Spirited's world and the quality of its development are top-notch.  Much of the film's considerable humor comes from its stars' talent, but a good part of it comes from winking at or poking fun of itself ("not another song!!").  While the songs and the dancing are not quite as spectacular as some other recent musicals, they are still very impressive, with both Ferrell and Reynolds performing well alongside plenty of professional background players.  Spirited also, in my view, makes better use of its musical scenes to further the narrative - and I found it much easier to understand what they were singing, too!

Along with the showy musical numbers, there is some neat effects work, particularly as the characters quickly move through time periods and locations.  However, it's the characters and acting that hold the most interest, as the best movies do.  Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds are perfectly cast, to start, and have great chemistry.  It's been some time now since Ferrell's heyday, and this is a great transition role in his career.  He still gets the lead (he's 1A, Reynolds is 1B) which means he plays a bit more of the straightforward role, yet he's still got plenty of quirks, allowing his comedic sensibility to flourish; a little Elf here, a little Anchorman there.  But he also shows impressive dramatic range too, as he has in Stranger Than Fiction and others.  Reynolds, the star here who's in his prime, provides the wattage needed for his role - a big, confident, um, asshole.  Yes, Reynolds is an unusual star who can convincingly play an anti-hero but still be sympathetic.  Octavia Spencer gets the top supporting role, and good for the filmmakers to finally move her away from her typical characters; she's much more balanced here, though not a major presence.  And the rest of the cast is stuffed with good performances, especially Patrick Page's Marley, Sunita Mani's Christmas Past, and a few hilarious surprises (don't spoil them for yourself!).  The movie is well-paced, with plenty of "action" (simply meaning, "things happening") and great dialogue.  And while the themes and messages are similar to what you've seen before, of course, they are very well focused and developed, leading to a conclusion that earns its emotional pay off.

***

I'm glad that I got to see Spirited in theaters at all, since I thought that this would only be streaming.  Hopefully you'll have a chance to see it that way, too, as it's definitely worth the trip!  Rotten Tomatoes gave this, along with fellow holiday movie standout Violent Night, positive but underwhelming scores: don't listen to the critics!  These are very different approaches to the genre, of course, but both are very worthy additions to the Christmas canon (Spirited will have a broader audience thanks to its lack of bloody violence).  Well, this may be it for me for the holiday season at the movie theater, a much different one than usual.  First, I saw not one but two holiday genre movies (which is rare), but I also may not see any blockbuster movies (also rare; the one that is available this year is the Avatar sequel, but I thought the original was way overrated and I don't want to contribute my money to James Cameron's ego).  Hopefully movies with Oscar buzz will soon make their way to theaters as we get closer to awards season.

* By Apple TV+ - http://www.impawards.com/2022/posters/spirited_ver5_xxlg.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71831081

Violent Night

 

Score:  A-

Directed by Tommy Wirkola

Starring David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Leah Brady

Running time: 112 minutes

Rated R

Long Story Short:  Violent Night brings out the Yippee-Ki-Yay in Santa Claus in a holiday film you never expected.  Combining bloody action and non-stop humor with - somehow - Christmas cheer, the director, writers, actors, and all involved somehow make it work brilliantly.  This Santa's favorite beverage is definitely not milk, but it goes down just as smooth.  Possibly a new Christmas classic - highly recommended (if you can stomach it).

Santa (Harbour) is getting tired of his job.  Despite the milk, cookies, and booze he consumes at each household, he is depressed by some childrens' increasing demands, usually for cash or the newest video game.  However, one Christmas Eve, he flies down a chimney to find himself in the middle of a hostage situation.  A wealthy matriarch has brought her adult children and grandchildren home, and their domestic tensions are exacerbated by a carefully planned, violent heist.  Even with his advanced age and apathy, Santa still has a little magic left, though - and he's ready to give both the nice kids and the naughty kids on his list what they deserve.

Somehow, Violent Night is both exciting, hilarious - and, yes, full of holiday spirit - and just maybe a new Christmas classic.  As a friend described to me, it's essentially a mash up of Die Hard, Home Alone, and John Wick (the first two are Christmas movies, at least!).  There are so many ways that this concept could have gone wrong, ranging from plain dumb to grossly offensive.  However, the direction, writing, and performances are all very good and in sync, leading to an experience that's more than the sum of its parts.  With that said, I still have to warn that this is not for everyone due to several scenes of gore and brutal violence (although, if you're on the fence, I recommend trying it on streaming - and fast forward when needed).  Yes, this movie somehow seamlessly combines the very different tones of Home Alone, a silly heart-warmer, and John Wick, a hardcore actioner with some sadistic humor.  It avoids the pitfalls of either of those two tracks: it's neither nihilistic or celebratory in the bloodshed nor overly sappy or sentimental in the family scenes.  And coming in at a little under two hours, the pacing is very good with an effective intermixing of its nice and naughty elements.

David Harbour, of Stranger Things, was a great choice as the grizzled Santa, and he seems to thoroughly enjoy himself.  To start with, he simply is physically convincing in the role, but he also achieves a nice, delicate balance between the cynical side and his love for children and the job built over (???) years.  The supporting cast is also great, with good guys, bad guys, and some in between.  A black-white couple and their daughter are the core trio, with dad still trying to overcome his toxic upbringing and the young girl providing an adorable and crucial dose of innocence.  The in-laws have fun hamming it up, nastily greedy and selfish; their fates vary, with some surprises.  And the bad guys are good, too, led by veteran evil-doer John Leguizamo.  The action is very well conceived and choreographed, particularly Santa's first two fights in which he is essentially a regular fat guy in a ridiculous costume.  The main battle royale is over-the-top, yet clever and doesn't drag on too long.  And a Home Alone tribute scene is just brilliant, with significantly more blood than its predecessor but just as many laughs.  Humor is consistent throughout the film, the laugh rate and variety very impressive.  The script is much better than most of Hollywood's recent comedic efforts, rock-solid even in the slower parts and sprinkling in some great recurring signature lines.  Finally, there are also some great needle drops, although I feel they missed an opportunity when, with Santa chasing the bad guys on snowmobiles, they failed to play Here Comes Santa Claus!

***

Violent Night definitely came as a surprise for me; in fact, I saw it with friends on the spur of the moment. I hadn't seen a new Christmas movie in theaters for years, as most of them are usually rom-coms or otherwise dull-looking or pandering.  I'm glad I gave this one a try, though, as it most certainly breaks out of the usual holiday film mold.  Yet it is far from content to simply subvert expectations; it does a damn good job in the details, execution, and perhaps most importantly, tone.  I will be following this up with yet another Christmas movie, in fact, since, to my pleasant surprise, Apple's newest streamer Spirited is coming to my local theater.  Once again, Violent Night is not for everyone - but if you can handle it, you'll find that it's one of Hollywood's most fun gifts this year.

* By Universal Pictures - https://m.imdb.com/title/tt12003946/mediaviewer/rm1186005505/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71761396

Devotion

 

Score:  C

Directed by J.D. Dillard

Starring Jonathan Majors and Glenn Powell

Running time: 138 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Based on a true story, Devotion focuses on a rare set of wingmen in Jesse (Majors) and Tom (Powell), sent to battle during the Korean War.  The set up, combining fascinating historical events in desegregation of the military and the ("forgotten") Korean War, are sidelined in this extremely generic, predictable, and artless war movie.  The script writers and many of the actors here are clearly Hollywood's "B" team, at best.  Skip this.

In 1950, shortly after the desegregation of the United States armed forces, Navy aviator Lieutenant Tom Hudner (Powell) joins a new squadron that includes a single Black man, Jesse Brown (Majors).  The two struggle for the same objectives - the respect of their team and a chance to serve their country - in different ways, and soon get the chance to do so when the squadron is deployed at the dawn of the Cold War.  Despite coming from much different backgrounds, the men develop a bond, one that is both tested and cemented in the cauldron of war.

Devotion is a flop of a war movie, due to poor filmmaking and a lack of artistic creativity and vision.  It's particularly unfortunate, too, because the movie's premise is quite intriguing:  a focus on a Black and white friendship just as the armed forces desegregated (but still several years before the Brown decision) and dealing with an extremely neglected event in the Korean War.  Now, there are some worthy elements in the movie.  The fighter plane action and aerial stunts are engaging (though put to shame by the Top Gun sequel) and much of the production (costumes, sets) feel authentic and believable.  The best scene in the movie is one of the few that's both artistic and moving:  Jesse, preparing himself for a crucial test flight, looks directly in a mirror, and you see only his face, morphing from rage, to despair, to determination in a clever illustration of his background and experiences.

Unfortunately, even with this great premise and a talented actor in Jonathan Majors, the movie feels slapdash, extremely straightforward and lacking in artistry, resulting in an unusually dull experience.  I see war movies, oddly, similar to sports movies: both have an inherent "action" element to them that can be very tense and riveting but can also easily go either overboard (see - rather, don't see: Hacksaw Ridge) or numb the audience to it.  They are also quite vulnerable to predictability: there have been so many of each, with well-worn structures, that you really need strong, specific elements or to overturn convention in some way.  Devotion, its war scenes taking place mostly in the (bloodless) sky, falls more towards numbness, made much worse by an extremely predictable story - not just in what happens, but in the way the movie presents it.  It's maddeningly by-the-book, hitting all the familiar beats.  Digging deeper, the script and acting don't do it any favors, either.  Majors is pretty good, though he's limited by the writing, and there are some downright painful performances, particularly the squadron's commander (distractingly played by Life in Pieces' Matt) and a ridiculous Liz Taylor "cameo".  There are a few interesting side elements introduced here and there - such as Jesse's concerns about a new plane design - but they are either resolved or disappear before you know it.  That brings us full circle, in that Devotion also pays shockingly little attention to the two major historical events previously mentioned (desegregation and Korean War).  Those who don't much about them before seeing the movie will know very little more, and in fact might be even more confused.

***

I went to Devotion hoping to see a movie that combined elements of both an exciting blockbuster with the high quality of an Oscar contender - and got neither.  Bewilderingly, it has an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes; I think the critics saw a different movie than I did.  Sometimes I realize my disagreement is a matter of taste, but this is an objectively poor movie.  It's also somewhat interesting to compare it to Top Gun: Maverick from earlier this year.  I don't know Devotion's background, but based on the way it turned out, I can imagine that the studios just wanted to cash in on Top Gun's success with another fighter plane-based movie.  Well, even if you've already seen Top Gun a few times, I'd recommend watching it again instead of seeing this one.  Hopefully there will be much better things coming to theaters soon.

* By http://www.impawards.com/2022/posters/devotion_xxlg.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71442144